Out of These Waters
by My Purple Skies
Summary: "What would I give if I could live out of these waters?" she asked herself, aloud. "What would I pay?" She was not expecting an answer. "What would ya pay, indeed, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin makes an offer. She can have her wish granted, but for a price.
1. What Would I Pay?

**(Raise your hand if you fell in love with Rumplestiltskin after watching the **_**first **_**episode. *looks to see how many have raised their hands* Wow. So many. *grins stupidly.* Yeah, so I was watching 'Skin Deep' (which furthered my love for dear, old Rumple) and when I heard the Evil Queen mention a mermaid I flipped out! I LOVE the Little Mermaid and couldn't help but think of what story would take place if the creators of the show ever decide to make an episode. So here's what flew into my mind.)  
>(Oh! I suggest listening to 'Call of the Sea' by David Arkenstone while reading through the beginning of this chapter. When you get to the second half, when it takes place in StoryBrooke, listen to 'Little Talks' by Of Monsters and Men.)<strong>

Chapter One  
>What Would I Pay?<p>

"Mmh-hmm, hmmm, mmh, hm," the mermaid hummed as she gracefully back stroked along the water's surface. She opened her eyes to look up at the blue sky above her and smiled. With a flick of her green fin, she dived into the water and swam a little ways before darting back up and to the surface, gaining a little bit of air, and then splashing back down.

Her father, King Triton, would be furious if he knew his youngest daughter was swimming so close to the land where many humans inhabited the area. Why did he forbid the merfolk to have any contact with humans? During the sixteen years of her life, she grew up hearing stories of humans and longed to meet one, but her father wouldn't allow it. In fact, that was why she was out here right now, swimming alone. She and her father had gotten into another fight.

Every year she would beg her father to let her got to the humans just _once_, and every year he said the same thing, "No." She became so angry with him that she swam away from the palace and went to her secret place; a grotto filled with human artifacts. The grotto wasn't too far from the underwater city she called home, but it wasn't too close either. She took special care to make sure she was never followed or discovered with human objects. Her fish friend, Flounder, usually helped out.

After spending a few hours at her grotto, organizing her treasures, she decided to go out for a swim at another of her secret places. It was at an inlet a few miles from a castle and its village. Many humans came to the inlet to have a picnic or go for a swim.

The mermaid floated up to the surface once again and brushed her red hair away from her blue eyes. "Still a child," she sighed aggravatedly, remembering what her father had said to her during their argument.

"It's not safe for you to go near humans! You're still a child," King Triton told his daughter, shaking his head.

"I'm sixteen years old! I'm not a child anymore!" The little mermaid insisted, angrily.

"Ariel, there's something wrong with you if you want so desperately to see some creature that would bring you great harm!"

"There's nothing wrong with me. You don't even go near humans, so how can you say that their vile and evil? Because they have legs? Because they live on land? Does that make them evil, father? Sirens have legs and live in the sea, but they are far from good!"

"Sirens have the sense to drown humans when they have the chance!"

"They're wicked creatures and I'm ashamed to swim in the same ocean with them! Don't you see, father? Sirens and Merpeople are so different. One kind is good and the other is evil. Don't you think it's the same way up on land? Not all humans can be evil! Please, let me prove to you-."

"You are to _never _go anywhere near them! As your king and father, I forbid it! Have you lost your senses completely?" Triton shouted. His words stung. That was when Ariel swam off for her grotto.

Ariel looked up at the sky to see that the sun was beginning to vanish from the horizon and the moon was nearly hanging overhead. Pale moonlight reflected off the water around her and she sighed in disappointment. No humans had come to the cove today. More particularly, _he_ hadn't come today.

A few weeks ago, Ariel had rescued a man from drowning. A storm had come from out of nowhere and tore the man's ship apart. He was knocked unconscious before he fell into the sea. Ariel had been trailing along after the ship, curious about the humans on board. She saw the sailor limply floating in the water and threw her father's orders aside. She couldn't just let him die! Ariel caught hm up in her arms and swam a good many hours before finally laying him on the sandy shore of her favorite inlet. The sailor had been unconscious the entire time.

Ariel had gotten a good look at his face as she watched over him. His hair was black, his face was handsome and young, probably around her age. Did humans count their age the same as the Merpeople? She felt a fluttery sensation in her heart as she had stared at him. She began to sing to the sailor, hoping he could hear her. Ariel's time with the sailor was cut short when other humans arrived and spotted the two of them. She had dived back into the water and swam a safe distance away, watching until they were gone. She hadn't seen the sailor since then and it made her feel sad.

Shaking herself out of her memories, Ariel swam closer to the shore. She decided to take a rest on one of the rocks that were piled along the wall of land that made up a portion of the cove. Ariel pulled herself onto a rock and let her tail stay in the water. "Hhmmm- mmh-hm, mmh- hm, mmm, mmm," she hummed. If there was something she loved to do more than collecting human objects, it was singing. _Singing…. _"Oh no!" Ariel moaned. She suddenly remembered the concert that she was supposed to have performed in that took place hours earlier. It was just as well that she had missed it. She didn't feel much like singing in front of anyone after her fight with father.

"Mmmh-hm,hm, hm, mmmh- hm, hm, hm." Ariel leaned back, placing her upper body weight onto her palms as she stared at the moon and stars. Did humans like to look at the moon and stars too? Did they appreciate its beauty?

The sound of whimsical laughter interrupted Ariel's thoughts and she quickly turned her head to look where it came from. Two figures, a male and female, were running towards the cove. Ariel ducked down and peeked out at them from behind her rock. Excitement filled her as she watched the couple pretend to be at a grand ball and dance with one another. Ariel loved to watch humans dance. It looked so beautiful; she longed to dance as well, but that would require legs to do so. Dancing wasn't the only thing she longed for though… she longed to see her sailor again. The couple paused in their dance and gazed at one another for a long time. Then, slowly, their heads inched closer and soon their lips touched.

Ariel felt her heart flutter. A kiss! Love! She adored watching couples who were in love. It looked so pure. How could creatures who felt such emotions like love be evil? If only her father would give the humans a chance and see that the only things that made Merpeople and humans different were legs and fins.

Ariel watched in awed wonder as the man picked up the woman in the middle of their kiss and spun around, making the female laugh in delight. They looked so happy. Ariel let her head rest against the smooth surface of the rock. "I wanna be where the people are," she whispered. "Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun...wandering free." Unlike herself; she was trapped by her father and his rules.

The couple soon went away and Ariel perched on her rock, dreaming about what it might be like living on land. "What would I give if I could live out of these waters?" she asked herself, aloud. "What would I pay?" She was not expecting to be answered.

"What would ya pay, indeed, dearie?"

Ariel gasped and looked up at a higher leveled rock and saw a figure standing on it, watching her with gleaming eyes. She gasped and moved to dive back into the water but the figure held out his hands. "Hold up now! I'm here to grant your wish, not harm you!" Ariel had already leapt off her rock and swam a few feet away, but hadn't dived under water yet. She turned back to look at the shadowy figure with a curious expression. The man giggled. "That got your attention," he sing-songed, his voice slightly echoing back to Ariel.

Ariel cautiously made her way back to the man, stopping two feet away from the rock she had been sitting on moments ago. "Who are you?" she asked.

The figure made an 'Ah' sound and hopped off the rock and landed on the one Ariel had used. He gave a low bow, precariously balancing on the rock as he did so. "Rrrumplestiltskin!" he trilled. "At yer service." He slightly raised his head to meet Ariel's eyes and extended out his hand for hers. Ariel nearly gasped when she caught sight of his crazed eyes. The irises were a deep shade of brown and rather large. They seemed to be able to look right into a person's soul.

Ariel slowly placed her hand in Rumplestiltskin's. He smiled and placed a kiss on her hand. "A pleasure to meet a princess of the sea," he said. Ariel snatched back her hand.

"How did you know-?"

"I have my ways, dearie," Rumplestiltskin replied, straightening up. "Now about your wish…" he began and tilted his head down a bit, playfully cocking an eyebrow at Ariel.

"What wish?" Ariel asked.

Rumplestiltskin sighed and eased down into a sitting position, letting his elbows rest on his knees. "How quickly we forget," he muttered. "Don't you wish to be able to live among the humansss?"

"Well, yes, I, I do-."

"I can help ya, dearie." Rumplestiltskin steepled his fingers together and tapped them against each other. Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. His eyes were gleaming devilishly and his smile turned into a grin, revealing dirty teeth. She gave an almost imperceptive shake of her head and used her fin to push her back a few inches. She didn't like this man.

"You're unhappy, aren't you princess?" the imp suddenly asked. To Ariel it sounded as if he already knew the answer. A slight breeze wafted past the two of them, moving Rumplestiltskin's brown hair and causing Ariel's skin to prickle. He pointed a long finger at her when she still didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes."

Ariel suddenly found her voice again. "Do not assume my answers for me, sir."

Rumplestiltskin made an exaggerated show of looking apologetic for his forwardness. "Pleasssse, do excuse me."

Ariel undid the space she had put between them. "You said you could help me?"

Rumplestiltskin lifted both eyebrows and quickly lowered them, his ever-present smile widening. "That I did."

"How?" Ariel asked, tilting her head to the right.

Rumplestiltskin pulled his hands away and gestured with his right. "With a bit of magic," he answered.

Ariel moved closer without even realizing it. Her blue eyes were wide. "Magic? Humans have magic?"

Rumplestiltskin giggled. "Oh, no, dearie; not all humans." He pointed at himself. "And I'm not human." Ariel's brow wrinkled n confusion. He looked human… slightly. His skin color was different from the humans she had seen; a greenish-gold hue. His eyes… his eyes were the biggest hint that he wasn't the same as humans.

"What can you do to help me?"

By now, Ariel was at the base of the rock Rumplestiltskin was sitting on. She was too fascinated to remember that she felt uneasy around this creature. Rumplestiltskin bent over, hands clasping his knees, as he stared into Ariel's eyes. "I can give you legs," he whispered, almost secretively.

Ariel nearly forgot to keep moving her fin so she could stay afloat. "You'd do that?" she asked, eagerly. Could it really be possible? She could search for her sailor!

Rumplestiltskin reached down and cupped a hand under her chin. "For a price," he answered.

Ariel blinked. "What?"

Rumplestiltskin removed his hand from Ariel's face. "All magic comes with a price, dearie." He caught the displeased look in Ariel's eyes. She pulled away and gave a disgusted shake of her head.

"I knew it. I just knew it!" Ariel angrily sent a splash of water in the imp's direction.

Droplets of water landed on his pants and on his coat. Rumplestiltskin took note of this and gave her an exaggerated pout. "Now that's not a very nice thing to do, dearie. Especially to someone who just offered to grant yer wish."

"If I _pay _you! I thought you were doing this out of kindness." Her hope of finding the sailor was gone.

Ariel turned to swim away but Rumplestiltskin called out to her. "Wait, princess!" For some reason, she didn't go, but she didn't turn around to face him either. Rumplestiltskin stood to his feet and put a hand to his chest. "I make deals, dearie. Nothing, not even magic, is free. Aaall things come… with a price. Do you really think you'll find happiness under the constant watch of your father?"

Ariel's breath halted for a moment. How did he know these things?

Rumplestiltskin pointed a black-finger nailed digit towards the mermaid. "Think about it, princessss. When you change your mind… I'll meet you back here at this same time."

Ariel spoke very carefully, trying not to let the imp hear the quiver in her voice. "I will _never _change my mind."

Rumplestiltskin's grin turned feral. "Like I said… _when _you change your mind."

Ariel dived into the water and hurriedly swam away from the cove and Rumplestiltskin. The imp giggled and knelt down to skim his fingers in the water. "Till we meet again, Princess Ariel."

* * *

><p>Morgan awoke with a start as her alarm clock buzzed loudly near her ear. She squeezed her eyes shut as she covered her ears with her pillow. "<em>Shut up!"<em> Morgan thought. She blindly searched for the clock and banged her fist on the button when she found it. Morgan sat up, red hair messy and in need of a good brush. She rubbed her eyelids with both hands and heaved a sigh before looking at her clock for the time. Her blue eyes flew open. _"Oh no!" _She was going to be late for school!

Morgan threw off the sheets and jumped out of bed. She tripped on the covers and fell with a thud to the wooden floor. _"Ouch!" _

"Morgan; is that you?" Morgan's father, Tyron Waters, called from the first floor.

"_Of course it's me; who else could it be?"_ Who else would her father expect to find in the two story house they lived in, which was located almost on the outskirts of the town, Story Brooke.

Morgan leapt to her feet and hurried to her closet. She rummaged around and pulled out a blue tie-dye shirt and blue jeans. The sound of her father's footsteps coming up the stairs made her quicken her pace as she finished pulling on her pants and searched for a pair of shoes. Man, if she was late to school _again_…

Tyron opened the door to his daughter's bedroom and found her hopping on one foot while trying to put on a shoe. Morgan froze when she caught sight of her father standing in the doorway. He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Morgan," he moaned.

"_Oops,"_ Morgan thought. She gave a cheesy grin and suddenly lost her balance. She collapsed onto the floor.

"Looks like I'll have to drop you off at school on my way to work," Tyron said. Morgan blew a strand of red hair away from her face and smiled, apologetically. "Are you ready?" Tyron asked. Morgan nodded and got off the wooden floor boards. "Come on."

They went to the stairwell and Morgan grinned as she habitually slid down the bannister. "Morgan, I've told you before; don't do that. You could hurt yourself."

"_Always so protective." _Morgan let out a heavy sigh.

"Don't talk to me in that tone of voice," Tyron teased. Morgan smiled at her dad. Only he was allowed to joke about her disability. He never made her feel bad or inadequate about being born a mute.

Tyron led Morgan to his truck and opened the door for her. She slid inside and wrinkled her nose at the strong aroma of fish that resided in the vehicle. Tyron was a fisherman. He owned a small store that sold fresh fish to the people of Story Brooke and his job is what earned Morgan the nickname of Fish Girl at school.

She didn't really fit in with the rest of the crowd. She couldn't speak and her only way to communicate was with sign language, but most high school students didn't want to learn sign language, so it was hard to strike up a conversation with people. The only student who knew sign language fluently was Florence Fisher. His mother was deaf and so he learned signing at a very young age. When Morgan met Florence it was like a ray of sunshine was finally smiling on her. She finally had someone she could talk to.

They had to pass Mr. Gold's pawnshop to get to the school. Morgan slowly inched down into her seat, as if to hide herself from the owner of the shop. Mr. Gold; a lot of people in town didn't like him and for good reason. Morgan felt a little afraid of him.

The vehicle was pulled into the school parking lot and Morgan gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek before hopping out of the car. Her father honked the horn at her. "Hey," he called. Morgan turned to look at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Tyron asked. Morgan stared at her father, confused. A smile broke onto her face when she realized what he was referring to. She bent her hands to form a heart shape and held it up for her dad to see. Tyron mimicked the motion back at her and drove off, smiling.

Morgan took off running the moment her dad pulled away. She pushed open the doors to the school and dashed down the halls to her first class of the day; Geometry. She peeked through the small window in the door and saw the teacher had his back turned while he was writing something on the white board. Morgan slowly turned the door knob and eased the door open; she tip-toed into the room and made a 'shush' motion to a few students who noticed her entrance. They smiled and held back some laughs. Morgan made it to her seat and sat with her hands folded on top of her desk.

"Finally decided to join us today, Miss Waters?" the teacher asked, without turning from the board.

Morgan winced. _"He must have eyes in the back of his head." _

….

**(Well, I wanna know what you guys think so far. I hope this chapter was too your liking. Please let me know!) **


	2. A Deal to Keep

**(I'm so glad that I got some feedback from my readers! Thanks for the encouragement!)**

Chapter Two  
>A Deal to Keep<p>

Morgan slowly walked with Florence to the cafeteria for lunch. Her head was lazily hanging low as Florence talked to her. "Have you thought about what you're gonna do over the summer?" Florence asked. Morgan shook her head. "Well, you better figure it out quick; summer is just a month away."

Morgan lifted her head and wiggled her eyebrows at him mischievously. "I know," she signed to him. "What have you got planned for summer?"

Florence shrugged. "I guess I have no life like you," he joked. Morgan gave him a swat on the shoulder. They entered the cafeteria and waited in line for the school lunch. When it came their turn, Morgan wasn't pleased with what was being served. "Mmmh; fish sticks," Florence said, uneagerly. Morgan turned and looked at him with a wrinkled nose. "Yeah, they're disgusting. They make me sick if I eat them. How come you don't like to eat fish?" he asked as the two of them walked out of the lunch line to find a place to sit.

"My dad's a fisherman; he comes home smelling like fish all the time and it started to become undesirable as a food to me," Morgan signed with her free left hand while holding her lunch tray in her right. Since she was busy signing to Florence, she didn't notice three students walking in the opposite direction. They were too busy chatting to notice Morgan.

Morgan and one of the girls' shoulders rammed into each other, causing Morgan's food to spill onto the girl's shirt. "Aaah!" the girl screamed. Several students turned their heads to look at the commotion. Morgan stared with her mouth wide open, mortified.

The girl was Ursula Black; the school's most popular girl. She dressed in mostly dark colors and had long, black hair that stopped three inches past her shoulders. She was in choir and got all the solos while Morgan had to play the piano for the choir performances. Ursula was one of the people who liked to make things difficult for Morgan.

Ursula Black clenched her fists and gave another scream. "Ugh! Morgan!" Morgan tried to sign, 'sorry' to her but was stopped in mid-motion by Ursula's next words. "The least you could do is _say, _'sorry'!"

Morgan froze and felt a lump form in her throat. Florence put an arm around Morgan's shoulders. "Hey, it was an accident. You both didn't see each other coming. Let's leave it at that; okay?" Florence said, uneasily. He was afraid of getting into confrontations. Morgan hated to admit it, but her friend was a bit of a coward.

Ursula sneered at Florence. "Listen Fisher, you're no better than her. So don't think that I'm going to listen… got it, Fish Boy?"

"What's going on here?" a new voice asked. Morgan felt her heart turn summersaults. She recognized that voice. She slowly turned to face the person it belonged to; Aaron Prince. He was the high school dream boy. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes, perfect smile, dimples; he was the picture of every teenage girl's dream.

The moment Ursula realized Aaron was there, her mean girl attitude vanished and was replaced by a smile. "Oh, Aaron. Morgan and I just bumped into each other. No harm done." She turned her violet eyes on Morgan. "Isn't that right, Morgan?" Morgan sighed and walked away, head hanging low.

"Excuse me," Florence said, and hurried after Morgan.

Morgan tossed her ruined lunch into the garbage and plopped down at the nearest empty table. She balanced her chin on her fist and blew loose strands of red hair away from her face. _"Ugh! That witch!"_ she thought grumpily.

Florence sat down in the empty seat in front of Morgan and cringed. "She hit a nerve, didn't she?" he asked.

"Of course she hit a nerve! She always hits a nerve and it's always the same one! My lack of voice. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm not. It **hurts**,"Morgan signed language. Florence's cringe deepened.

Aaron Prince walked by their table and Morgan's eyes followed him to where he sat with his group of friends. She didn't realize she had been staring for a while until Florence waved a hand in her face. "Hellooooo," he called, "Earth to Morgan. Ground Control to Major Tom; can ya hear me Major Tom?" Morgan burst into silent laughter at her friend's joke. He turned to look at Aaron and grinned back at Morgan. "Oooooh; I get it now! You like Aaron."

Morgan wrinkled her nose and scoffed. "Please,"she would have said, sarcastically. But really she was thinking, _"Dang; am I that obvious?" _

"Does your dad know?"

"There's nothing to know,"Morgan signed, haughtily. Florence kept staring her down, smiling like he knew the world's biggest secret. "Stop that!"she signed, slightly grinning despite her efforts not to.

"Have you talked to him?" Florence asked, before thinking. Morgan blinked and gave him a stare that he knew well. He dubbed it the You're An Idiot Stare. Florence smiled at her cheesily. "Heh, heh. Slip of the tongue. I meant, have you tried to contact him in any way?" Morgan dropped her eyes to the floor. "No? Why not?" Again with the stare! "Because you're a mute?" Morgan's eyes trailed to the floor again. "Morgan… I know I'm not the best person to be telling you this, but you've got to take chances."

"I know...How about… I make a move for Aaron when you make a move for that girl you've been ogling at in History class?"

Florence bit his lower lip after Morgan finished signing her challenge. "Well, I-uh, I-uh… I don't think it's such a good idea and-."

"Guppy,"Morgan mouthed and sucked in her cheeks to make a fish face. Florence gritted his teeth. "Iiii… Fine! I'll do it. … But just not today," he added, quickly taking a sip of his chocolate milk.

Before Morgan could come up with a tease, the bell rang for the next class and Florence jumped up from his seat. "See ya after school," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Tyron adjusted the bill of his khaki cap and heaved a sigh. He'd been working for a while and he was beginning to get tired. A pain was developing in his chest and he decided to take a break for a bit. He was about to step out of the store when the little bell on his door jingled. <em>"The break can wait a few more minutes," <em>he thought to himself. He turned to great the customer with a smile. "Welcome to Atlantica, how can I help-…?" Tyron's voice trailed off and the smile fell from his face.

Mr. Gold limped into the store, smiling. "Good afternoon, Mr. Waters," he greeted in his soft Scottish accent.

Tyron swallowed before he spoke. "There's still three more days."

Mr. Gold made a face as if he didn't care. "I know that."

"Then why are you here?"

"I merely stopped by to see how things were holding up; checking in… as it were."

"Checking to see if I could pay you back, right?"

Mr. Gold made a 'tsk' sound with his mouth by sucking in air through his teeth. "Just checking up, Mr. Waters… How's your daughter?" he asked out of the blue.

Tyron stiffened at the question. "She's fine." His tone was a silent warning to Mr. Gold.

"Ah," Mr. Gold replied with a slight nod of his head. "Good to hear, good to hear." He took another look around the store and tipped his head at Tyron. "In three days," he reminded the fisherman. He turned to go.

"Mr. Gold," Tyron called, reluctantly. Mr. Gold twisted back around to face Tyron. The ache in his chest had now spread to his left arm. He flexed his left hand for a second. "I'm having trouble coming up with the rest of the money." Mr. Gold had now turned fully around to look Tyron in the eyes. He had a look on his face that seemed like he had known this fact all along. "I was wondering if it would be at all possible if I could pay you the amount I have now and pay the rest when I get it?"

Mr. Gold 'tsked' again. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Waters. You remember that our deal was very specific? I'm a man of my word… how about you?"

Tyron clamped his jaw shut at the insult. "I just need a little more time; a month at least," he begged.

Mr. Gold inspected the head of his cane with nonchalance and turned toward the door once again. "Three days, Mr. Waters. If you don't have that money paid back to me in _full _by that time, then Atlantica is mine… along with something far more precious to you." Mr. Gold glanced back at Tyron and smiled, almost smugly. "Have a good day, Mr. Waters." He opened the door and walked out.

Tyron ran a hand over his face and clutched at his chest. "That can't happen…"

* * *

><p>Rumplestiltskin sauntered over to the entrance of a cave located at a cove about six miles from the one that Princess Ariel liked to swim at. It had many boulders and large rocks that a person could climb on to keep from getting wet due to the cave's floor to be made up of water. He cupped his hands together near his mouth and called out, "Oh Dark and Lovely!" He waited for a response with a grin.<p>

"Enter," a hiss-like, female voice ordered from within the cavern. Rumplestiltskin giggled and leapt from one rock to another as he entered the cave. He kept going until he came to the very back of the grotto. The only light provided was by the shafts of moonlight that filtered through openings and cracks in the ceiling. "Did you do as I requested?" the voice asked again. The owner of the voice did not reveal themself.

Rumplestiltskin lifted an eyebrow in playful disbelief. "Are we playin' hide and seek? I love games and all, buuut," he steepled his fingers and drummed the tips together, "I would like to _see_ you're _loo-ve-ly _self again." Rumplestiltskin let out another giggle, but smaller than the last one.

"You cursed imp," replied the voice, but she emerged from the shadows anyway. There was the sound of rippling water and a shadowy figure moved to be underneath a shaft of moonlight. The light illuminated that this was no ordinary young woman. She had pale, purplish skin and startling grey-white hair despite her youth. And the most eye catching feature about her was that instead of legs, she had black tentacles like an octopus.

Rumplestiltskin's grin widened when she showed herself. "Peek-a-boo," he sing-songed.

The woman's face didn't change expression. "Did you do as I requested?" she repeated.

Rumplestiltskin gave an offended huff and waved away her question. "Nobody starts with pleasantries anymore; always gotta get right down to business," he muttered as he folded his leather-clad arms over his chest and leaned against a stone wall.

"Imp, you try my patience! Answer me or suffer!" the sea creature shouted.

Rumplestiltskin threw back his head and giggled madly. He pointed an index finger at the sea woman. "You think you can threaten me? Do you think I'm helping you because I feared for my life?" he asked the last part dramatically. He pushed off the wall and continued to gesture with both index fingers. "Listen here, dearie; _You came to me_ for help. _You're _the one who said that your magic wasn't strong enough for the spell you wanted to do. _You," _he pointed one finger at her, _"_need _me_," he pointed his other finger at himself.

Rumplestiltskin dropped his hands and began to saunter over to the pool of water that the sea creature was occupying. "I agreed to the deal for a price, and that price was that you grant me whatever I asked for when I succeed on my part. I didn't care about vague threats." The imp stood at the edge of the rock in front of the woman. He bent his knees and placed his hands on them as he stared at her. "So I'd rethink this little leash that you assume you've got around my neck, dearie… You can't even be more than two years older than that mermaid princess," he spat.

The sea woman hissed and bared her teeth at Rumplestiltskin. The man turned on his heel, steepling his fingers once again, and smiling at the cave exit. "Now, are ya gonna play nice so I can be persuaded to part with the _juicy _bit of news that I've got for ya?" he asked, smoothly. The sea woman grunted and waited for him to speak. "She didn't accept my offer," Rumplestiltskin began. The sea witch let out an angry scream and reached for his leg. Rumplestiltskin nimbly leapt out of her reach and he shook a finger at her. "Nah-ah-ah-aaah!" he giggled.

"What use are you, cursed imp?" the sea witch screamed and attempted to pull herself out of the water and onto the rock.

Rumplestiltskin watched without the least bit of concern, his lips smirking. "My, my, my; someone's got a temper," he trilled, teasingly.

"I want that girl's voice, Rumplestiltskin!"

"Why? You have such a _lo-ve-ly _one now."

The sea witch conjured a glowing purple and black orb of light and launched it at the imp. He calmly held up his hand and it disappeared before it could hit him. Rumplestiltskin wagged a finger at her and 'tsked'. "Temper, temper," he sung. "You'll never get anything like that."

"I must have her voice!"

Rumplestiltskin rolled his large brown eyes and moved to sit down on a nice-sized rock, letting his legs stretch out before him. He casually examined his surroundings. "Ya know; I can't help but wonder _'why' _you want the little mermaid's voice? Jealous, are we?" He pulled out a silver flask from the cuff of his jacket and unscrewed the cap. Rumplestiltskin brought the container to his lips and took a quick swig of its contents, waiting for the sea witch to answer.

"Because she interfered. I have the power to make myself human; I could have pulled it off without your help but then she had to go and interfere."

Rumplestiltskin leaned back on the rock, resting his weight on his elbow and side as he swirled the liquid around in his flask. He made a great show of looking unconcerned. "Interferrrrred," he drawled. He capped the flask and lifted his eyebrows in a bored fashion. "With what?"

"My future with the prince! She had to go and rescue him that night! I could have worked with that, but then she had to _sing _to him just as he was waking up! He heard her voice and now he's in love with her! He knows her voice by heart and the only way for me to get to the prince is by using her voice!"

Rumplestiltskin sat up and tucked the flask back into the fold of his sleeve. "And so you shall have it… as long as my price is paid."

"I never planned on going back on our deal, Imp. I've heard what happens to those that do."

Rumplestiltskin gave a disturbing giggle while looking at the ground. "Yesss; it's surprising how fast news can travel." He gazed at the ground for a second longer and slapped his knees. "Well, dearie! I know you enjoy my company and all but I must go." He stood to his feet. "Lots of others deals to make and payments to be picked up. Tah!" In the blink of an eye he disappeared, leaving the sea witch in her fury.

* * *

><p>Morgan tapped her foot against the floor as she stared at the clock. Ten minutes until the school bell rang to signal the end of the day. Since it was Thursday, she'd have to stay after school and practice with the choir for the end of the year performance. It lasted from four to five-thirty.<p>

It was sometimes torture being in a choir class and not being able to sing. But what she lacked in voice, Morgan had made up for in her ability to play instruments. The piano and guitar were her ways of escape. When she played an instrument, it felt as they she could sing and her soul went into every note she played. Her music teacher, Mr. Crabtree, often bragged about how he couldn't imagine finding anyone else who could make instruments sing.

The bell rang and Morgan hurried to the choir room. The moment she entered the room, Mr. Crabtree ushered her over to the piano. "We're warming up with 'Seasons of Love', Morgan. Page 12," he instructed her.

Morgan sat on the bench and pulled out the piano music book from her bag. She flipped through the pages until she came to the song. Mr. Crabtree struck his conductor stick against the metal podium in front of him and drew the choirs' attention.

"_**Five hundred, twenty-five thousand  
>Six hundred minutes,<br>Five hundred twenty-five thousand  
>Moments so dear.<br>Five hundred twenty-five thousand  
>Six hundred minutes<br>How do you measure, measure a year?"  
><strong>__**  
><strong>_Morgan's hands danced over the keys as she sang in her heart. She knew the words so well and she found herself mouthing them.

_**"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights  
>In cups of coffee<br>In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.**_

_**In five hundred twenty-five thousand**_  
><em><strong>Six hundred minutes<strong>_  
><em><strong>How do you measure<strong>_  
><em><strong>A year in the life?<strong>_

_**How about love?**_  
><em><strong>How about love?<strong>_  
><em><strong>How about love? Measure in love…<strong>_  
><em><strong>Seasons of love. Seasons of love."<strong>_

Ursula stepped forward to the microphone set out for her and she proudly sang her part. _**  
>"Five hundred twenty-five thousand<br>Six hundred minutes!  
>Five hundred twenty-five thousand<br>Journeys to plan.**_

**_Five hundred twenty-five thousand_**  
><strong><em>Six hundred minutes<em>**  
><strong><em>How do you measure the life<em>**  
><strong><em>Of a woman or a man?"<em>**

Ursula finished with a series of wild, high notes. Morgan felt like face palming at the girl's blatant showing off. _"If I had her voice, I wouldn't feel the need to show off."_ It was no doubt that Ursula had an amazing voice but she flaunted it every chance she got and she hated to share the limelight with anyone.

Next was a boy's solo.  
><em><strong>"In truths that she learned,<br>Or in times that he cried.  
>In bridges he burned,<br>Or the way that she died."  
><strong>_The whole choir joined back in again._**  
>"It's time now to sing out,<br>Tho' the story never ends  
>Let's celebrate<br>Remember a year in the life of friends  
>Remember the love!<br>Remember the love!  
>Seasons of love!"<strong>_

Morgan hit the last piano cords and turned to look at the choir, clapping. They were getting better every time! "All right; let's move on to the next song, everyone. 'For Good' from _Wicked_," Mr. Crabtree announced. Morgan's face split into a grin. Now _there _was a musical that she loved to play every song from! The song was to be for two girls to sing with the choir to accompany during the chorus. So far, Mr. Crabtree was still holding auditions for the solos and just having everyone work on the chorus. Ursula was sure she'd get the part of Elphaba, the witch. The witch's part required someone with a strong and powerful voice; something she felt she had. Morgan prayed someone would one up her.

At the end of practice, Morgan walked to her father's fish store and saw he at the counter ,busy talking to a customer. She waited until the conversation was done before making her presence known. Tyron's face relaxed when he saw his daughter. "Hey, honey. Practice done already?" he asked. Morgan nodded and pointed at the clock. It was nearly five-fifty. The store closed at six. "Thanks for letting me know. I've completely lost track of time today," Tyron confessed and winced at the slight ache in his chest. He put a hand at the spot of discomfort and rubbed it briefly. "Man, I'm tired today."

"Maybe you should close early today?" Morgan signed.

"No. What's ten minutes?" Tyron chuckled. Morgan noticed he wouldn't meet her gaze. Something was wrong. She tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. "What is it, baby?" he asked.

"What's wrong?" she signed.

Tyron sighed and was about to speak when a customer came to the counter to pay for some trout. Morgan impatiently tapped her index finger on the counter. When the customer left, the store was empty except for Tyron and Morgan. Tyron stroked his chin, trying to think of what to say. "The store's in a bit of a jam, honey. It's not getting enough business." Morgan's blue eyes spoke her concern for her. "I don't want you to worry, honey. I can handle this."

Morgan's eyes traced the grain pattern in the wooden counter as she began to think. How long had her dad been hiding this from her? Probably for a looong time. Her father did everything within his power to make sure she was happy and safe. Ever since her mother had died… Morgan felt a stab in the heart at the memory of how her mom had died and she pushed it aside.

Morgan glanced at the clock and pointed it out to her dad. It was six o'clock. Tyron closed up the store and drove the two of them home.

**(Sorry if this seems rushed, but I wanted to get the second chapter posted before I had to go to work. Please forgive the rushed ending. I plan on doing better in the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, the one fav, and the alerts; they were very encouraging! Please leave me some more reviews and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to write them. I cannot wait for the next episode on Sunday!) **


	3. Look At This Stuff

**(I had no idea that my story would be so well received! It was just a spur of the moment thing. Thank you all so much!) **

Chapter Three  
>Look At This Stuff<p>

Sheriff Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard were walking down the street towards Granny's Diner when they saw Tyron Waters' truck pull away from Atlantica. "Right on the dot," Mary Margaret said to herself.

Emma looked at her friend. "What is?" she asked.

Mary nodded her head in the direction of the receding vehicle. "Mr. Waters closing up his shop at six.; always on time. He hates leaving his daughter alone at home for long periods of time since they live out so far from town."

"I don't think I know Mr. Waters," Emma admitted.

"I'm not surprised. He doesn't socialize very much with the rest of the town."

"Kinda like Mr. Gold?" Emma joked.

"Nothing like Mr. Gold. Tyron Waters is… very affectionate of his daughter, Morgan." The two women entered the diner and walked up to the counter. "He can be a bit over protective though," Mary added.

"Who's overprotective?" Ruby asked, coming to take their orders.

"Mr. Waters," Mary answered.

Ruby nodded. "Oh yeah; Mr. Waters has watched out for Morgan ever since his wife died. It was horrible."

Emma wrinkled her brow. "What happened?"

Mary Margaret and Ruby exchanged a look. Ruby ended up answering. "When Morgan was about eleven, she and her mom were out at the docks and Mrs. Waters slipped and fell into the water."

"Some ropes got twisted around her legs before she fell and she couldn't get loose," Mary continued. "Morgan watched it happen."

"Didn't she try to get help?" Emma asked, curious and shocked.

Ruby bit her bottom lip. "Morgan was born a mute."

Emma felt like a kick had been delivered to her stomach. The kid couldn't have screamed for help and she had no doubt that Morgan hadn't wanted to leave her mother alone. She could just picture the eleven year old frozen in terror as she watched her mom struggle to stay afloat. Mary picked up the rest of the story with some reluctance. "Mr. Leroy found Morgan when he went to work on his ship. Ever since then Morgan's been deathly afraid of the water."

There was silence for a few seconds. Ruby cleared her throat and slapped on her usual smile. "So, anything I can get you?"

"_The power to restore a broken family," _Emma thought. "I'll have a beer."

"Water and a salad," Mary said, smiling back at the young waitress. When Ruby left to get their orders, Mary slightly turned her head towards Emma. "Ruby and Morgan are friends," she informed Emma.

"How old is Morgan?"

"Sixteen."

"And how old is Ruby?"

"Nineteen."

"Does Morgan have any other friends?"

"Not really. There is this boy named Florence Fisher, but he's just a friend. His mother's deaf so he knows sign language and they stuck by each other."

"Good guy."

"Morgan is a bit of a loner like her dad, but I don't think she wants to be. I think she wants to be a part of the community but her father … he hardly lets Morgan out of his sight and…" Mary paused when she caught the look Emma was giving her. "And I'm sticking my nose into their business," she quickly finished.

Emma smiled. "No you're not. You are merely voicing your own observation," she told the timid woman.

"It sounds a lot like gossip," Mary replied, embarrassed.

Emma feigned a shocked expression. "_You _gossip?" Mary Margaret giggled and playfully shoved Emma's shoulder as Ruby came around with their drinks and Mary's salad.

…

Ariel peaked around the corner of the palace hall and nearly jumped out of her scales when a shaky voice asked, "Is anyone there?"

Ariel turned to face the small, yellow with blue stripes fish that floated behind her. "Sh!" she insisted, placing a finger over her lips. She turned back to face the hall, adjusting the strap of the small bag she shouldered.

"W, w, we could get in big trouble if anyone sees us," the fish stuttered.

"You say that every time we do this, Flounder. Stop being such a guppy." Ariel darted from the coral wall and swam out the wide arch.

"I'm not a guppy," Flounder whispered loudly. He hurried to catch up with the mermaid.

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are t-," Ariel stopped and shook her head of red hair. "Never mind. All we gotta do is get this to the grotto and then we'll be back before my father suspects a thing."

Flounder swam closer to the small bag Ariel carried. "What is that thing anyway?" he asked.

"Scuttle called it a dingle hopper."

Flounder scrunched his scaly face up in confusion. "A what?"

"A dingle hopper. I don't know, sometimes I think he's making up names. But he's a seagull and he's seen more of the humans than we ever will so I'll have to take his word for it."

The duo swam until they left the limits of Atlantica and came upon a cluster of coral reefs, boulders, and seaweed. Ariel pushed aside a rock and swam inside with Flounder following close behind. Ariel gazed at her collection of human artifacts and sighed. There was so much hidden in this grotto. So many interesting things about how the humans lived. Ariel dug into her bag and pulled out a small, silvery metal object that slightly resembled her father's powerful triton. Scuttle had called it a dingle hopper. He said humans used it to comb their hair.

Ariel sighed again. "Maybe he's right?" she said, suddenly.

"Who's right?" Flounder asked.

"My father. Maybe there is something the matter with me?" Ariel gave a small laugh.

Flounder quickly swam over to his friend. "No, don't think that!"

"I, I just don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things …," Ariel fingered the prongs of the dingle hopper, "could be… bad." She motioned to all the objects with her free hand. "I mean, look at this stuff! We don't have half the things that the humans do!" Ariel set the dingle hopper down next to a glass cylinder. "I just wish… I just wish that I could be part of that world. I wanna walk around on those… those…ugh! What do ya call them?" Ariel pointed to her translucent fin and then at a figurine of a couple dancing. "Um, um … Feet!"

Ariel spun in a circle, indicating her collection. "I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty, I've got who zits and what its galore… but who cares? In the end it's no big deal because… I want more." She stared longingly at up at the whole at the top of her grotto where moonlight from above filtered in. She wanted to be with her sailor. Ariel opened her mouth and began to sing mournfully.

"_**My heart is pierced by cupid  
>I disdain all glittering gold<br>There is nothing to console me  
>But my jolly sailor bold."<br>**_

Flounder came and nudged Ariel by the elbow with his head. "We better get going. It's late." Ariel nodded and the two left the grotto.

Echoes of her wish bounced back and forth on the rocky walls and rose to the surface. It floated along with the wind and it wasn't long before the little mermaid's wish whispered itself into a certain imp's keen ears. The imp gave a feral grin. "Hurry up little mermaid; I haven't got all of eternity," he whispered.

….

Morgan lay awake in bed, waiting for the clock to strike eleven. The grandfather clock down stairs tolled and Morgan carefully climbed off the mattress and grabbed her messenger bag from beneath her pillow. She was still in her jeans and t-shirt and socks. All she needed were her shoes. … Which were somewhere around her room…. Under the bed! That's where she put them! Morgan nearly dove under the bed and dragged out the shoes. She hurriedly put them on and tiptoed towards her window.

Morgan undid the latch and slowly pushed it open. The house roof and the tree next to it made a great ladder to climb down. She landed with a soft thud onto the grassy ground and she did a quick check to make sure the house lights were all out. Once she was certain all was clear, she ran towards the woods where she was sure to find Florence waiting for her at their meeting place.

It was as Morgan planned. Florence was there, sitting on the trunk of a large, fallen, oak tree. He jumped to his feet when he heard someone approaching. "Who's there?" he squeaked. Morgan appeared and shook her head at him. "I wasn't scared," Florence told her. Morgan made the 'Guppy' face at him. When she was closer to him, Florence grasped her by the sleeve. "We really don't need to be doing this anymore. We could get caught; it is Mr. Gold's property after all."

"Mr. Gold has so much land I doubt he's gonna know that we've been sneaking around on it," Morgan signed. She began to walk away from the tree and deeper into the woods.

Florence sighed as he followed Morgan. "I don't know what's worse. Facing your overprotective dad when he finds out you've been sneaking out of the house or facing Mr. Gold if he caught us?"

Morgan didn't even face Florence as she answered him in sign language. "Mr. Gold."

They walked in silence the rest of the time until they came to a small brook and turned right to see a large hill-like formation of earth. There was an opening in the mound and created a cave of sorts. Morgan and Florence raced to the cave, Morgan reaching it first. She did a little victory dance. "Yeah, yeah, yeah; I let you win," Florence wheezed, bent over with his hands on his knees. Morgan gave a silent giggle and tossed him a flash light from her bag. They clicked on the devices and entered the cave.

Inside the cave were various objects that Morgan and Florence had collected over the years. Antiques they found from all over StoryBrooke. It had served as a secret clubhouse for the two when they were little kids and they still met up inside it from time to time.

Morgan dug around inside her bag and pulled out her latest find. It was an old silver, heart-shaped jewelry box; elegantly detailed with designs all across its surface. "Where'd you find that?" Florence asked in awe.

"Mr. Gull showed it to me after history class and said I could keep it," Morgan informed him.

"And you're gonna keep it in here?" Florence asked, incredulous.

Morgan shook her head. _"No." _She heaved a sigh. "I wanted to tell you something about our collection."

"What about it?"

Morgan paused and then told Florence everything that her father had told her about the business not doing so well. "He says he's taking care of it, but I saw his eyes… he doesn't have a lot of options," Morgan finished signing.

"What has that got to do with our collection?"

"Mr. Gull has seen a lot of the stuff we brought in. He said a lot of the items are valuable…" Morgan's hand hesitated to finish signing the rest of her thoughts.

Florence's eyes widened. "You want to try selling the collection and get the money to pay for the loan, don't you?" Morgan nodded. Florence knew the rest of her idea without her telling him. "And you want to try pawning them off to Mr. Gold because he's the only one with the money and knowledge of what they're worth." Morgan nodded again, looking down at the dirt floor. Florence ran a hand through his blond hair and sat down next to Morgan. "Well… how can we be sure Mr. Gold will accept them?"

"He won't," an accented voice snapped. Morgan and Florence turned as one to face the cave entrance. Mr. Gold stood in the opening, his body outlined with the faint beams of moonlight that managed to slip past the tree branches. He carried a flashlight of his own and his cane in the other hand. "Because I already own these items," Mr. Gold finished. He limped further into the cave.

"What?" Florence asked, nervously.

Mr. Gold licked the corner of his mouth and shifted his weight to balance on the uneven ground. "All these items already belong to me because if I remember correctly, this land belongs to me. And anything that is on my land becomes my property," he said harshly.

Florence suddenly found the courage to speak his mind. "But then that would imply that humans become your property as well!"

Mr. Gold sent Florence a chilling glare. "That could be arranged if my land keeps getting trespassed by law breaking teenagers." His brown eyes flickered over to Morgan for a brief moment before focusing on Florence again. "I do believe you were leaving," he hissed in a low voice. He moved aside to let the teens pass.

Morgan picked up her bag and tucked the jewelry box inside it as Florence moved towards the exit. Just as she was about to walk by Mr. Gold, the man blocked her path. He stared down at the ground as he spoke. "Morgan… if I ever catch you trespassing on my land again, I will let your father know about this." He finally lifted his eyes up to meet hers. "Do we have an understanding?" he asked. Morgan slowly nodded, clutching her bag close to her chest. "Good." He stepped back and let Morgan pass.

Mr. Gold watched the two teenagers run off until they disappeared behind a hill. He looked back into the cave and the beam of his flashlight lite upon an object that caught his interest. He hobbled back into the cave and picked up the object to inspect it. It was a black corded necklace with a curled golden sea shell as the pendent. Mr. Gold felt his breath hitch and he quickly pocketed the item. If that girl had only known the power she had held within her little cave of wonders.

**(Hey guys, sorry with the short chapter, but things are busy over here. I hope this chapter left you happy though and that you'll want to keep reading. Please leave a review!) **


	4. A Little Walk

**(Thanks for the support, dear readers! I love this show so much and want to do these characters justice. Heck, I have made it a goal {however silly it may sound to others} that I WILL try to appear on OUAT somehow, someway, someday! Ha ha ha. Don't judge me; I'm an Acting Major in college.  
>Has anyone else heard the rumors flying around that there is talk of the Little Mermaid appearing in the second season of OUAT?<br>To answer some of your questions like when this story is taking place; I'm kinda not sure right now. I want to try keeping it current as much as possible but with each episode, {Heart of Darkness for example} it makes it difficult. I do know that all episodes up to Dreamy are established and will take part in the story. Red Handed is where it starts to get a little iffy and hard. So, to clear it up, everything up to Dreamy has taken place, further episodes will be considered and attempted to be included.  
>Again, thanks for reading and reviewing!)<strong>

Chapter Four  
>A Little Walk<p>

_Summer is coming, summer is coming, summer is coming…. _Those words kept echoing themselves in Morgan's head. Summer couldn't come fast enough. If felt like summer vacation hadn't come in _years_! In fact, Morgan could sometimes swear that it felt like time had almost… _frozen _in a fixed point and only now it was moving forward. It was a silly notion but still… Maybe that's just the way all winters felt; like they would last forever.

"_Oh Dreeeeaam weaver," _Florence sang, trying to get Morgan's attention. It worked and Morgan snapped out of her daydream. She suddenly remembered that she was in the school cafeteria. "You've been daydreaming a lot lately," Florence pointed out. "Is something going on?" Nothing that would cause her to daydream, but Morgan had noticed that her father had been acting very anxious that morning.

Tyron thought Morgan was still in her room getting ready for school and he had called up a business friend. They talked for a long time and Morgan could just make out her father's voice from the living room as she made her way down the stairs. She paused and strained her ears to listen. Morgan only caught snippets of her father's side of the conversation. "I tried talking to him… not enough… two days left … I could lose…"

Morgan had waited until the conversation was over before she joined him in the living room, smiling like she hadn't heard a thing. But Morgan had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach all morning since then.

Morgan shrugged her shoulders at Florence's question and she smiled. Florence smiled back and stretched. "Made any moves on Aaron yet?" he asked, oh-so-casual-like. Morgan elbowed his unprotected stomach, making Florence grunt. "What? I talked to Cassy today."

"You asked her how she liked the weather today," Morgan signed.

"That's a major step for me! I nearly peed in my pants!"

Morgan doubled over laughing in silence. Florence playfully pouted as she continued to laugh. "Laugh all you want, but let's see you fare any better."

Morgan wiped a tear away from her eye and hugged Florence. If he only knew how much she treasured his friendship. Sure, she could sign or write how she felt but Morgan desperately wanted to give _voice _to those feelings. She wanted to tell Ruby how grateful she was that Ruby took the time to get to know her and befriend her; and most of all, Morgan was aching to tell her father that she loved him. They made hand hearts at each other, but Morgan sometimes felt it wasn't enough.

Morgan focused back on the present and was squirted with apple juice as Florence took a big bite out of the fruit. "So, got any plans for the weekend?" he asked. Morgan shrugged as she wiped the juice off her cheek. "We'll figure something out. Do you have to work at Mr. Clark's store today?" Morgan nodded. She had to be there every Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesdays Morgan worked from five to eight, on Fridays she worked from five to nine-thirty. Occasionally, Mr. Clark would ask her to stay and help him close the store, which took until ten. She would have to walk to the store and Ruby usually gave Morgan a ride home after her shift at Granny's Diner ended.

A little electronic beep was heard from Morgan's jacket pocket. She dug out her cell phone and wrinkled her nose. The battery was low. Morgan mentally kicked herself for forgetting to charge the battery last night. She hoped it had enough power to last her until she got home.

….

Why had Ariel confided in him? Why? She told him about her encounter with the human, about how she had rescued him from drowning, that she had fallen in LOVE with him! It was too much for a crab to handle! Why _him_? All he was to Ariel was a music instructor- well… maybe more of a friend. But still!

Sebastian paced as fast as his tiny little legs could go, brooding over the burden Ariel had innocently dumped on him. All he had done was catch her and Flounder sneaking back into the palace the other night and when he confronted Ariel about it, the little mermaid confessed where she had been and what had happened with the sailor. "Ah mon!" he moaned. Then Ariel had to go and give him that big, pitiful, blue-eyed look and make hm promise not to tell the king. "Ah mon!" Sebastian moaned again. He couldn't take it! The strain was too much! He was already having to cover for Ariel as she went to the surface in hopes of spotting her sailor again.

"Sebastian?"

The little crab gave a scream and whirled around to see King Triton floating behind him. The king lifted an greying eyebrow at Sebastian's outburst. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Sebastian let out a forced, light hearted laugh. "I'm completely fine, your Majesty." He could only hope that he wouldn't die of a heart attack right there on the spot. The Sea King adjusted the grip he held on his magic triton and if Sebastian didn't know any better, he'd say that His Majesty was trying to bring up something that made hm a bit uncomfortable.

Finally, King Triton sighed and plunged in. "Sebastian, I'm concerned about Ariel. Have you noticed she's been acting peculiar lately?"

Sebastian felt his eyes widen. "Oh! Uh, peculiar?"

Triton nodded and elaborated a little more. "You know, mooning about, daydreaming, singing to herself. You haven't noticed, hmm?"

"Oh, well I..." Was the king suspicious?

"Sebastian," the king called in a tone that made the crab want to swim away. It wasn't stern; it was a tone that sounded as if he already knew everything!

Sebastian decided to try keeping up the innocent act. "Hmm?"

"I know you've been keeping something from me."

"Keeping something?"

"About Ariel?"

There was a loud rattling noise and Sebastian was horrified to find that it was his legs shaking. He locked his legs. "Ariel?"

"In love? Hmm?" The King had a knowing smile crawl onto his face. He'd over heard the female servants talking about his daughter's behavior and said that only love made a girl act like she was.

_Ah! He knows! _Sebastian threw his claws above his head and let out a strangled cry. "I tried to stop her, sir! She wouldn't listen! I told her to stay away from humans! They are bad! They are trouble! They are-!"

The smile disappeared from Triton's face and was replaced with a frown. "Humans? What about humans?" he bellowed.

Sebastian felt as if he'd shrunk several sizes as he gazed up at the king's furious face. "Humans?" He chuckled nervously. "Who said anything about humans?"

…

By the time Morgan went to work, her cell phone battery had died and left her in a pickle. Ruby had sent her a text just five minutes before her battery lost power. It told her that Ruby couldn't pick Morgan up at the end of her shift. Now Morgan couldn't text her dad to come and get her after work and Mr. Clark had to leave early because his allergies were acting up too badly for him to stay at the store. So that meant that Morgan was going to have to stay until ten to close. _"Isn't life wonderful?" _she thought, sarcastically.

Well, there was a good side to Morgan being left alone to close the store. She could listen to music on the radio while she worked. Mr. Clark never played music whenever he was working with her. Their taste in music differed so much that it was best to leave the radio off.

Morgan flipped on the radio and tuned it in on a station that mostly played her favorite songs. In fact, a favorite of hers was just starting to come on. It was 'The Calendar' by a band called Panic! At the Disco. There were some songs they did that she didn't like, but most of the songs had a sound to it that kinda made Morgan think of … magic. The melody to this one always made Morgan want to sit still and listen.

"_(Only for you, Only for you)  
>It's said if you don't let it out<br>You're gonna let it eat you away  
>I'd rather be a cannibal, baby<br>Animals like me don't talk anyway…"_

Luckily, there weren't very many customers in the store at the time. It was 9:00 pm now, so the crowd was beginning to thin out. Morgan kept the radio volume at a reasonable level and checked out the customers with a smile on her face.

_"Feel like an ambulance_  
><em>Chaser of faith<em>  
><em>Pray I could replace her<em>  
><em>Forget the way her tears taste<em>  
><em>Oh, the way her tears taste<em>

_Put another X on the calendar_  
><em>Summer's on its deathbed<em>  
><em>There is simply nothing worse<em>  
><em>Than knowing how it ends<em>  
><em>And I meant everything I said that night<em>  
><em>I will come back to life<em>  
><em>But only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you…"<em>

Morgan drummed out the beat to the song with her fingers. Her chin was cupped in her hand as she waited for any customers to come in. 9:02…. Man, time moved so slow in this store.

_"The world may call it a second chance_  
><em>But when I came back it was more the relapse<em>  
><em>Anticipation's on the other line<em>  
><em>And obsession called while you were out<em>  
><em>Yeah, it called while you were out<em>

_Put another X on the calendar_  
><em>Summer's on its deathbed<em>  
><em>There is simply nothing worse<em>  
><em>Than knowing how it ends<em>  
><em>And I meant everything I said that night<em>  
><em>I will come back to life<em>  
><em>But only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you…."<em>

Morgan left the radio on at the register and went over to the back of the store. She began to straighten up the merchandise and make it look nice for the following morning. She could _just _make out the lyrics to the song from where she was.

_"Asleep in the hive  
>I guess all the buzzing got to me<br>Well, I'm still alive  
>At night your body is a symphony<br>And I'm conducting(Conducting, Conducting, Conducting, Conducting, Conducting)…"  
><em>

A long guitar solo followed and Morgan glanced around to make sure no one was around. Once she discovered that she was the store's sole occupant, Morgan broke out into an air guitar performance. Hey; it kept her entertained. The door to the store opened and set off the little bell, alerting Morgan that she needed to stop her air guitar or have someone witness the spectacle. Morgan began to walk back up to the front so she could greet the customer. … Well… at least smile and wave at them.

"_It's said if you don't let it out  
>You're gonna let it eat you away<em>

_Put another X on the calendar_  
><em>Summer's on its deathbed<em>  
><em>There is simply nothing worse<em>  
><em>Than knowing how it ends<em>  
><em>And I meant everything I said that night<em>  
><em>I will come back to life<em>  
><em>But only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you<em>  
><em>Only for you."<em>

Morgan stiffened when she saw that it was Mr. Gold who had entered the store. He was looking at the radio with an unreadable expression on his face. Probably questioning her choice of music. Morgan hadn't wanted to run into him so soon after their encounter last night. Was he still angry? She tried to back away so he wouldn't notice her but instead she bumped into a pyramid of paper towels and knocked them over. Needless to say, it got Mr. Gold's attention.

Morgan dropped to her knees and busied herself with picking up the mess. She winced when she heard Mr. Gold's cane tap, tap, tapping on the floor in her direction. Two black polished shoes entered her field of vision. "Well now, what happened here?" came his accented voice. Morgan cursed herself but forced a smile on her face as she looked up at Mr. Gold. There was the ghost of a smile on his lips as he stared down at the girl. "For someone so small you certainly can cause quite a stir," he commented.

Morgan bit her bottom lip and surveyed the mess. Yeah; it was kinda big. She stood to her feet, cradling a few rolls of paper towels in her arms. She hoped Mr. Gold would move on but he didn't. He continued to watch her with that strange smile on his face. Morgan clutched the arm load of paper towels and turned to stack them back up. Her foot tripped over a roll she hadn't seen and sent her stumbling into the wall display of shampoo and conditioner bottles. Her collision knocked over half of the bottles and they came tumbling off the shelves. Morgan dropped the paper rolls and covered her head as she was showered with items.

A few moments of stillness came and Morgan finally plucked up the courage to uncover her head and see what damage she had caused. A few bottle caps had popped off and the contents had splattered on the floor and, to Morgan's embarrassment, on one of Mr. Gold's fancy black shoes. A shampoo bottle that had been battling gravity had a late fall and clattered to the floor, rolling along the surface until Mr. Gold stopped it with his foot.

Morgan's shoulders slumped as she gazed at the chaos she had created, but what bothered her most was the look on Mr. Gold's face as he too took in all the details of the mess. He looked so amused but his lips never went past a smirk; he didn't chuckle either but it looked like he might at any second. Mr. Gold once again fixed his eyes on Morgan and she saw another emotion; absolute wonder at how this small girl could cause such an incident and yet he had just seen it happen. After what felt like an hour, Mr. Gold finally spoke. "I wonder... if Mr. Clark knew what he was getting into when he hired you on, Morgan?" He sounded so serious, but there was that almost playful twitch on his mouth when he said it. Morgan knelt down to begin picking up the strewn items. "That reminds me," Mr. Gold said, stopping Morgan. "Where is Mr. Clark? I need to speak to him about a little business matter."

Morgan thought the way Mr. Gold said 'business matter' was creepy and didn't exactly want him to go into the details. She started to try telling him Mr. Clark's location by using her hands but then gave up and headed for her travel-sized white board at the register. She uncapped her expo marker and wrote out her answer. **"Went home early. Allergies acting up badly."** She showed it to Mr. Gold and silently prayed he would leave, but his reaction was not what she was expecting.

Mr. Gold's grip on his cane tightened and a hard look came to his face. "He left you alone to close the store at 10:00 pm?" he asked. Morgan slowly nodded, a bit confused as to why Mr. Gold seemed to have a problem with the situation. It didn't happen very often. Mr. Gold looked up at the clock to see the time was 9:15 pm. He seemed to think for a minute, weighing his options, and then came to a decision. "I don't like the idea of leaving you here alone to close so late, dearie." That last part had just slipped out and he could have bitten his tongue.

_"Oh please just go, creepy man!"_ Morgan begged in her mind. In her imagination, she was on her knees, hands clasped in front of her, begging Mr. Gold to leave the store.

"Would you mind if I stuck around until closing?" Mr. Gold asked.

Morgan's imaginary self clutched at her chest as if having a heart attack and gaspingly shouted, _"I'm doomed!" _In reality, Morgan's smile was fixed on her face.

When Morgan didn't answer right away, Mr. Gold added, "For your safety."

_"Why couldn't you just leave?" _Morgan wondered. She wrote on her board. **"Thanks for the offer."**

Mr. Gold nodded and ran his dark eyes over the mess on the floor. He turned his eyes back on Morgan, that smirk appearing again. "Better get started," he advised and began to limp away, browsing the shelves.

As soon as the pawnbroker was out of sight, Morgan huffed and plopped her head against the register, following this motion repeatedly until her forehead began to feel sore. _"Why me?"_ she mouthed. _"Why me?"_ She gazed up at the ceiling. _"Why?" _When no booming voice responded to her question, Morgan resigned herself to cleaning up her epic mess.

Occasionally, Mr. Gold would walk down her aisle to see how Morgan was progressing, but he never said anything. Three customers came into the store; then after seeing Mr. Gold, they quickly grabbed whatever it was they had come to get, paid for it, and nearly flew out the door. Morgan didn't blame them. Mr. Gold had that effect on people. The man was 5'6", had a bad leg and needed to use a cane to walk; what was so scary about him? Morgan sometimes paused in her work to study Mr. Gold when he wasn't looking. How could a man like him be so frightening? She came up with only one answer. Mr. Gold was scary because he was Mr. Gold. Yep; that answer suited her just fine.

Morgan glanced at the clock and sighed. 9:45 pm. _"Go faster!" _she silently urged the time piece.

"You know, staring at it won't make it go faster." Morgan jumped and turned to see Mr. Gold standing beside her, comparing the time of the store's clock to the silver pocket watch in his gloved hand. He tucked it back into his pocket and gave her a passing smile as he moved away.

_"Creeeeeepyyyy,"_ Morgan sang in her mind. She shuddered and went to sweep up the floors and various other chores she had to do before closing the store. A thought occurred to her. What was she going to do after she closed the store and had to walk home by herself? She could tell Mr. Gold she was waiting for her ride, but then he'd insist on waiting with her. Then he'd find out she had no ride and no way to text her father to pick her up. _"Stupid cellphone battery." _Would Mr. Gold offer to walk her home? Probably so. The man had offered to stay with her till closing after all. But then he'd find out where she lived! _"Fudge, I'm screwed!" _Why was the guy acting like a gentleman?

The next fifteen minutes had to have been the longest fifteen minutes Morgan had ever experienced! Despite what Mr. Gold had said to her about a watched clock not going any faster, Morgan still found herself staring. She was so absorbed with staring that she didn't notice Mr. Gold watching her. He noticed the way her brows were drawn together, the frustrated glare in her eyes, the thin line her lips formed as she frowned at the clock. If Mr. Gold still had his magic, he would have used it to make the minute hand move forward ten spaces, just to see Morgan's reaction.

Morgan started to drum her fingers on the counter and held her chin in hand. She was absolutely bored! Five minutes were left. _"Come on, baby! Go faster for Morgan!" _

Three minutes! Morgan didn't notice she was leaning forward over the counter.

Two minutes! Her eyes were nearly bugging out of her sockets.

One minute! Morgan ran from behind the register and dashed to the back room where her messenger bag, jacket, and scarf were at. She quickly threw on her outer wear, slung the bag onto her shoulder and sprinted towards the glass door. She looked up at the clock just as it clicked to 10pm. Morgan pumped her fist and opened the door, motioning for Mr. Gold to go first. He murmured his thanks and went out.

Mr. Gold stood by a Morgan locked the door and he looked at the parking lot. It was empty of vehicles. "Morgan," he started.

Morgan closed her eyes. _"Dur, dur, dur; he's gonna ask." _She slapped on a smile when she turned to face Mr. Gold.

"Do you not have a car?"

Morgan shook her head, her insides tensing up. She wondered which would be worse; her dad mad at her for walking home at night with no escort, or being brought home by Mr. Gold? Morgan tried to picture the expression on her dad's face in both situations...both looked pretty mad.

"Is someone coming to pick you up?" Mr. Gold inquired. Morgan casually nodded. "Would you mind if I waited with you until they arrive?"

Morgan's lips compressed themselves into a thin line. Mr. Gold caught her reaction and pounced on it. "You don't have a ride, do you?" he asked in a knowing tone.

Morgan bit her bottom lip and guiltily shook her head, scuffing the toe of her shoe on the sidewalk. _"Please don't offer to walk me home, please don't offer to walk me home,"_ she silently begged. If Mr. Gold could read minds she hoped he'd get the message.

"I suppose I could walk you home. You do live out in my direction after all."

Morgan's imaginary-self face-palmed her forehead. _"Message: unreceived."  
><em>

"It'll be no trouble. You'll just ... owe me a favor."

Morgan's heart nearly stopped beating. If an escort home meant owing Mr. Gold a favor then she would gladly hitch-hike! She took a step back, politely shaking her head.

Mr. Gold stepped forward and put a hand on the back of Morgan's shoulder. "I insist. It's not safe walking out in the woods alone at night. You never know what monsters may be lurking out there, my dear." The girl was probably wondering if he could be one of the monsters.

Morgan nervously walked along with Mr. Gold, listening to his cane as it tapped an almost rhythmic pattern on the street. She clutched the strap of her messenger bag and kept her eyes to the ground. Why was this man walking her home? He was the town's heartless pawnbroker; what could have possibly made him decide to be nice? Oh yeah; he said she'd owe him a favor. Was he purposefully going out of his way like this just to get a favor from a sixteen year old girl? Speaking of the favor… what was it going to be?

Morgan slightly turned her head to look at Mr. Gold. He didn't seem to be having much difficulty walking. Morgan couldn't remember ever seeing him drive a car, so did he walk everywhere? Why do that to himself?

Mr. Gold caught Morgan staring and flashed her a smile. "Lovely night," he remarked. Morgan quickly looked away, her face turning red at being seen staring.

The sidewalk they had been walking on soon disappeared and the two had to walk on the side of the street. The street lights were not as regular in placement now and so it caused it to be harder to see. This was why Morgan didn't see the uneven patch of dirt that came into her path. The toe of her shoe hit against the rise and sent her falling to the ground. Even though Morgan had no voice, she still opened her mouth in a silent yelp. Mr. Gold saw her decent too late and grasped at empty air. "Are you alright?"

Morgan sucked air through her teeth and lifted herself up to her knees. Her hands were burning. Mr. Gold hovered near and saw Morgan inspecting her hands for cuts. It was too dark to tell, so she wiped her palms on her jeans and pretended that she didn't see Mr. Gold's extended hand to help her up. She stood by herself and dusted herself off. "Are you alright?" Mr. Gold asked again. Morgan gave him a thumb up and continued walking.

Gold stood in place for a moment, watching Morgan as she walked. This was going to be a bit more difficult than last time. Last time was in a different world and under different circumstances.

Morgan noticed that she couldn't hear the _'tap, tap, tap'_ of Mr. Gold's cane and she turned to look back at him. She gave him a questioning look. "Just taking a rest, dear," he said and started to close the distance between them. Morgan waited until he had caught up and the two kept walking.

Morgan kept thinking about the favor that she'd owe Mr. Gold; she couldn't stop. She pulled out her small white board and expo marker and started to write on its surface while she walked. Mr. Gold saw her doing this and quirked an amused eyebrow at her. _"What do you want to ask, princess?" _

Morgan flipped her board around so Mr. Gold could read what she'd written. **"What favor will I owe you?" **

A mysterious grin spread across Gold's face. "We'll have to wait and see," he answered. Morgan wrinkled her nose in disappointment and wiped off her board.

Mr. Gold and Morgan came upon Morgan's drive way and she felt herself shrink when she saw her dad was waiting on the front porch. The porch light was casting a bit of a halo glow and Tyron had to shield his eyes to try getting a look at who was walking his daughter home. When he saw that the person was using a cane, it didn't take him long to realize who it was.

Morgan could have sunk into the earth at the look on Tyron's face. She gave Mr. Gold a nod of thanks and hurried up the wooden front porch steps. Morgan glanced at her father as she passed him by. He gave her a strained smile and said, "Honey, you go inside. Mr. Gold and I are gonna talk a little bit." Morgan heard the disdain hidden in her dad's voice. She glanced uncertainly back at Mr. Gold and then walked into the house.

Tyron waited for a moment until he was sure Morgan was out of earshot before he stormed towards Mr. Gold. Mr. Gold sighed and looked off to the woods. "Hello, Mr. Waters; how are you tonight?" he asked casually, not looking the man in the eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tyron asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Just escorting Morgan home from work," Mr. Gold replied, innocently, still not looking at Tyron.

Tyron's temper rose from the lack of eye contact. "I've told you to-!"

"Stay away from your daughter; yes, I know." Mr. Gold finally locked eyes with Tyron. "But would you rather I had left her alone to walk all the way here in the dark?" His brown eyes were glaring harshly at Tyron and the fisherman felt a shiver work its way down his back. "Are the waters so bitter between us that you'd neglect your own daughter's safety because you don't want her to be near me?" he jabbed.

A slight movement from the window on the second floor of Tyron's house caught Gold's eye. He lifted his eyes up, without moving his head, and spotted Morgan peeking out from the curtains. _"Curious little one," _he thought. He doubted she could hear any of what was being spoken.

Tyron's hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Her safety means more to me than anything; which is why I don't want her near you!"

Mr. Gold moistened his lips and gave a soft, forced chuckle. "Odd words coming from a man who can't even afford to take his daughter to a doctor." It was a low blow but it had the desired effect Mr. Gold wanted. The fire drained from Mr. Waters' eyes and his shoulders sagged. The fists he had made were now flat hands hanging limply by his thighs.

Mr. Gold tipped his head at Tyron. "Good night, Mr. Waters. I'll see you in two days." He cast his dark eyes up to the window and saw Morgan retreat from her spying position. Gold looked away and began to limp his way down the drive and onto the street.

**(Hello, Dear Readers! Man, it feels like forever since I've posted on this story. I really wish I had more time to work on all of my stories, but I don't. I should have been writing up an English essay right now, but no! I decided that my readers had been too long without an update, so I did this instead! Please leave a review, Dear Readers! I want to feel the love! Also, who else is really, really, REALLY bummed that the next episode of OUAT won't be until April 22? *wails and collapses onto couch in dramatic fashion* Gloom! Despair! And Misery!)**


	5. Double Dealing

**(Hello, dear Readers! I just have one thing to say: 'The Return'! What the frick; August! What the frick! How could you make Mr. Gold cry!. … There. I'm done ranting. I hope this chapter makes up for the lack of Rumplestiltskin in the last update.)**

Chapter Five  
>Double Dealing<p>

The Evil Queen was seething with anger as she stormed her way up to the front entrance of The Dark Castle. How dare that imp go behind her back! How _dare _he! She had heard of it from a trustworthy source that Rumpelstiltskin had made a deal with a sea witch concerning a little mermaid; a problem that Regina herself had gone to the sorcerer about. He had turned her down, gave a pathetic excuse about not being in the mood to make deals. If she remembered correctly, it had something to do about a dead servant girl that had been in his employment. Now Regina was hearing that Rumpelstiltskin had made a deal with the sea witch and not with her? The Evil Queen was incensed!

Approaching the large double doors, Regina motioned with her arms as if to part an invisible curtain and the doors opened by themselves. Her black trousers made it easier to march and her black boots clicked against the wooden floor boards as she barged into the large dining room.

"Rumplestiltskin!"

"Ever heard of knocking?" Rumpelstiltskin jeered from where he sat at his spinning wheel. He stood to his feet and gave her a cunning smile. He wasn't wearing his dragon skinned jacket, so he must have been spending the entire day spinning straw into gold.

Regina's anger went up another notch at the sight of his face. "How dare you!" Regina hissed.

Rumpelstiltskin gave an exaggerated look of confusion and surprise. He placed a hand on his chest. "How dare I?" he repeated. He pointed a blackish green nail at the queen. "I dare to do a lot of things, but you're gonna have to be a little bit more specific."

"The mermaid," Regina growled through clenched teeth.

Rumpelstiltskin continued his charade of being in the dark. "What mermaid?"

"The mermaid that I came to see you about a few months ago!"

Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers and pointed at Regina as if his memory had suddenly returned. "Oh! _That _mermaid! Yessss; I'm taking care of that for the sea witch."

"I asked you for your help first! How dare you make a deal with the sea witch instead!"

Rumpelstiltskin slowly strolled towards the queen. His heel touched the floor first, followed by his toes. One foot in front of the other, slow and deliberate, until he was quite close to the queen. "Aaaw," he mockingly whined, "Did I hurt Her Majesty's feelings?" His dark eyes were boring into her with that maniacal power that he wielded.

Regina was determined to show the imp that she wasn't intimidated by his close proximity. She tilted her head an inch closer to his. "I came to you about this, but you were wallowing in grief at the time and didn't accept the deal," she spat. There was a flicker in Rumpelstiltskin's eyes at the mention of that day and his grin morphed into a sneer.

The imp backed away, motioning flamboyantly with his hands. "Well," he sang, suddenly care-free again. "I guess I just _assumed_ you had dropped the matter and the problem was up for grabs to whoever next came for my help." He walked over to the head of the long table that was centered in the large room and sat in the chair. Rumpelstiltskin propped his boots up on the table top and steepled his fingers together.

Regina quickly crossed over to him and leaned forward on the table, holding herself up by placing her palms on the table surface. "You're a conniving liar, Rumpel."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Rumpelstiltskin sounded, wagging a finger at the queen. "Name calling doesn't suit you, your Highness," he teased.

He was still smiling! He smiled as if he knew everything. There were rumors that he could see into the future, but Regina never brought it up. She wanted to wait until the right moment to ask. It would explain his ability to always be two steps ahead of everyone.

"What benefit could you possibly gain from dealing with a sea witch; and such a young one at that?" Regina asked, her face still twisted into an unpleasant glare.

Rumpelstiltskin held up one finger. "That's funny. That's just the question I was wanting to ask," he fluidly moved his index finger to point at Regina, "_youuu." _He slouched back in his seat. "What does the queen want with a little mermaid?"

Regina pushed off of the table and scoffed. "Do you think that I'm going to tell you now?" Rumpelstiltskin raised both eyebrows at her expectantly and motioned with his hands for her to speak. Regina stared at him with cold eyes before turning to face the massive windows that gave a view of the mountains. "You could have gotten a better end of the bargain if you had accepted my proposal, Rumpel."

Rumpelstiltskin drummed his fingers together as he watched the queen. "You're sure about that, dearie? What makes you think your offer is better than the sea witch's?" he asked.

Regina turned and pushed her cape-like skirts aside so they would not get entangled around her legs. "Because there is _no one _who can offer more than I can. Are you aware that the Sea King has possession of a powerful weapon? It's called the Trident. It's how the Sea King is able to control the oceans." Regina locked eyes with Rumplestiltskin. She was probably the only person who was brave enough to do so. "I want that trident."

"More power, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin asked, condescendingly.

Regina lifted her chin in an uncaring defiant manner. "You can never have enough power." She looked back out the windows. "The Sea King is known to be extremely cold when it comes to humans. His biggest weakness is his youngest daughter, Ariel."

Rumplestiltskin's head cocked to the side as he listened. Regina cast him a glance over her shoulder. Most people would never turn their back to Rumplestiltskin, but she did. She challenged his power with her own every chance she got. He loved to remind the queen that she wasn't even close to being as powerful as he was and Regina would gladly wrap her fingers around his scrawny throat if she could.

Regina turned back to face Rumpelstiltskin, slowly making her way towards him, a smug smirk on her purple lips. Rumplestiltskin's golden brown eyes followed her every move. "I know that if anything … _tragic _were to happen to Ariel, then the Sea King would be willing to make any _deal _for his daughter's safety. His trident would be up for grabs and we could control the seas together."

The impish sorcerer lazily laid his head back against the chair as he stared at Regina. "You've put a lot of thought into this; and you thought well enough of me to ask for my involvement?" Rumplestiltskin put a hand over his none existent heart. "I'm flattered."

Regina's lips curled into a satisfied smirk. She'd have Rumplestiltskin's cooperation and the trident would soon be- …

"But I can't accept your offer."

Regina's thoughts came to a screeching halt and her smirk was gone so quickly it was like it had never been there. "What?" she asked with apparent disbelief.

Golden-grey scaled hands made dramatic motions in the air as Rumplestiltskin talked. "Ya see, missy, I already made a deal with the sea witch and I don't go back on my agreements."

"She's a beginner! What deal did you make with the sea witch?" Regina asked.

Rumpelstiltskin stood from his chair and whirled around to face Regina. "That is something that I care not to discuss." He began to walk back towards his spinning wheel but Regina blocked his path. Rumple gave her an amused smile.

"We can still make a deal!" Regina insisted.

"You reeeeaaally want that over-sized fork, don't you?" Rumple teased.

Regina ground her teeth together, considering her words before speaking. "I need to know what you promised the sea witch. She's too young to have thought about using Ariel as bait!"

Rumplestiltskin pressed his palms together and eyed Regina, considering her request. He turned his head slightly to the side, still eyeing her with a smile playing on his lips. "Weeell…" he separated his palms and held them out to his sides, "since you asked so nicely." Regina let out a victorious sigh and listened. "The silly little witch wants the mermaid's voice."

Regina blinked. "Her voice?"

Rumplestiltskin took advantage of Regina's stunned moment and stepped past her. She put her hands on her hips and stared at the floor before turning to look back at Rumple. "Why on earth would she want such a silly thing?"

"The heart of a prince is what she's got her eyes set on, but our little mermaid snared it with a simple little song."

Regina felt a rush of relief wash over her. "So the witch has no desire to rule the oceans?"

Rumple sat down at his spinning wheel and picked up the waiting thread. "I doubt the thought even occurred to her." He lifted an eyebrow at the queen. "Vanity has a strange way of blinding people to the bigger things in life."

The hidden meaning in his statement was lost to Regina; her mind was already plotting of how to make a deal with the powerful imp. "What's your part of the bargain?"

"I steal the mermaid's voice and give it to the witch. Then I name my price."

Regina swiftly made her way to Rumplestiltskin and looked down at him. "Your price could work to our advantage," she suggested. If she had been facing him directly, she would have caught the scheming smile that crossed over Rumple's face. When he looked up at Regina, the smile was gone.

"What have you got in mind, Your Majesty?"

The queen let an evil grin slide upon her face. This could actually work out….

Two hours of talking and scheming later, the queen stood from her chair and crossed the room to the double doors. "I'm counting on you to follow through this deal, Rumple," Regina called over her shoulder.

Rumplestiltskin also got up from his seat and turned to see the queen out. "Of course; you wouldn't be able to pull off such a grand scheme without me anyways." He gave a giggle and made a slight bow while motioning with his arms towards the door; his way of telling her to 'get out'.

The queen glowered at the imp and swiftly marched her way across the room to the doors as they once again opened by themselves. Rumplestiltskin giggled again when the doors slammed shut behind the Evil Queen. He loved to make her seethe with anger and frustration. It could almost be called a hobby of his.

The sorcerer turned on his heel and headed back for his spinning wheel. He was waiting; waiting for the little mermaid to call on him and make the deal. He'd seen the lovesick glimmer in her young eyes and knew that it was just a matter of a few short days that the girl would call on him so she could have the chance to seek her sailor boy. But it wasn't just any sailor now was it? Nope; little Ariel had to go and fall in love with a _prince_!

Rumplestiltskin spun the wheel and watched the straw turn into gold. This deal just seemed too easy! But sometimes things just worked out that way. Now he had two deals and both of them worked to his advantage perfectly; and the best part about it was… neither the witch nor Regina knew that they had played right into his hands.

….

Staring at the counter top in Granny's Diner was not the way Morgan planned on spending her Saturday morning. Ruby passed her by and Morgan let out an immature sigh. The young waitress turned to face Morgan while balancing a tray on one hand. "I know, I know; just five more minutes and I'll be off my shift. Okay? Can you live that long?" she asked. Morgan blinked and let her head slump onto the counter. Ruby chuckled. "You're such a drama queen." Morgan lifted her head and gave a cheesy grin.

Ruby hurried off to serve the patron whose food she was carrying, and Morgan checked her watch. Florence was supposed to have shown up by now. Just as she looked up from her watch, Florence burst into the diner and frantically searched the faces for Morgan's. He spotted her and quickly hurried to where she sat.

"Morgan, Morgan, Morgan! Mr. Gold's heading this way!" Florence hurriedly warned. Morgan slipped off her bar seat and grabbed Florence's hand, pulling him along with her to a booth. They got in the same seat that had its back to the door and turned to peak over the seat's edge. The door opened to reveal Mr. Gold and Mr. Gull.

Morgan elbowed Florence and gave him a 'why is Mr. Gull with him?' look.

Florence leaned close to whisper in Morgan's ear. "I might have told Mr. Gull about Mr. Gold finding our stash."

Morgan frowned at Florence but didn't dwell on it much longer as she strained to overhear the two men. "Mr. Gold, they're just kids," Mr. Gull was saying.

"Yes; kids who were trespassing on _my _land. They were lucky I only kept their stuff instead of calling the sheriff to press charges. A fair trade," Mr. Gold responded.

"That son of a-," Florence muttered. Morgan slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him. She didn't like Mr. Gold's words just as much as he did.

Gold and Mr. Gull began to walk past the two teens' booth. Morgan and Florence grabbed the large menus that were on the table and used them to cover their faces. When the men were well past their booth, Morgan and Florence slowly lowered the menus from their faces until only their eyes were visible. Morgan couldn't help but feel like she was in a spy movie. That would probably explain why the theme music for Mission Impossible was playing in her head.

Mr. Gold and the history teacher sat in a booth towards the very back of the diner. Mr. Gold sat in the seat that made him face Morgan and Florence. The two teens hunkered down in their booth, keeping the menus in front of their faces. "Great; now he can see us if we try to escape," Florence whined a little loudly. Morgan nudged him in the ribs and he quieted down.

Mr. Gull adjusted his flimsy eye glasses and rubbed the back of his neck. "Mr. Gold, it just doesn't seem fair to take those things away from them. I gave them some of that stuff. I'm sure they meant no harm in storing it on your property."

Mr. Gold gave a dry chuckle and wet his lips. "Oh I can hardly picture Morgan doing any harm. But the fact of the matter is that they broke the law and some form of action needed to be taken."

Mr. Gull shook his head at Gold's cold behavior. "If you would just give it back to them, they could take it off your land and put it somewhere else and they wouldn't trespass anymore. Why can't you just forgive them for a little mistake? Did they damage anything?"

Mr. Gold fixed the teacher with an unwavering stare. "No, Mr. Gull. The only thing they did was invade my privacy; something that has been happening to me a lot lately. I'm putting a stop to any further invasions and next time I catch those two trespassing again, I won't be as lenient." He rested his forearms against the edge of the table and laced his hands together. "Now if you have nothing further to discuss with me then I bide you good day."

Mr. Gull stared at Gold in silent disbelief. The man had a heart of stone. He sighed and maneuvered out of the booth. As an afterthought, he looked down at the pawnbroker and said, "You'd think mercy was a foreign concept to you," and left the diner. Mr. Gold was unfazed by the history teacher's comment and mysteriously smirked at the table surface as he waited to be served.

Ruby removed her apron and stored it behind the bar counter when her shift ended. She quickly grabbed a bag that had her normal clothes inside and hurried to the bathroom to change. Once she came back out, she spotted her friends at one of the booths and skipped right over to them. "Hey Morgan, Florence; are you two ready to go?" she asked, cheerfully.

Morgan and Florence instantly tensed up and gawked at Ruby for exposing their presence. "Sh!" Florence hissed as both he and Morgan held a finger to their lips.

Ruby quirked a dark eyebrow at them. "What the heck guys?"

Morgan glanced over her menu at Gold and saw him looking up from his own menu. She grabbed Florence by the shirt's collar and dragged him down below the table with her. Ruby, having no clue as to what was going on, knelt down to look at her insane friends. Gold furrowed his brow at the sight of Ruby kneeling on the floor. "What is going on?" Ruby asked with extreme confusion.

Gold's curiosity was aroused and he slightly leaned out from his seat to get a glimpse at what was under the table that Ruby was bestowing so much attention to. He wrinkled his brow comically when he saw that it was Morgan and Florence. They had been listening the whole time. Well now… Gold slide out of his seat and used his cane to help himself stand up. With a nonchalant stride, Mr. Gold made his way over to the teenagers.

"We're hiding from Mr. Gold," Florence explained in hurried words to Ruby. He felt a tap on his shoulder from Morgan. "What?" he asked. Morgan pointed forward. Florence and Ruby both turned their heads to look. Mr. Gold was standing directly behind Ruby, his hands folded casually on top of his cane. "Oh…" Florence muttered.

"Oops," Ruby winced.

The pawnbroker tilted his head down to look at Morgan and Florence. "Am I going to have to add espionage to the list of offenses?" he asked with a lifted eyebrow.

Morgan and Florence both shook their heads at the same time. "No sir, Mr. Gold! Definitely not; no sire-e!" Florence blubbered.

Mr. Gold bent over his cane to be closer. "Weren't you three going somewhere?" he asked as if he were actually curious. Morgan and Florence bumped their heads against the table as they both tried to crawl their way out from under the table at the same time. Gold straightened up and smirked as he watched them scramble to their feet and rush out the door with Ruby on their heels. Gold licked his lips and struggled not to cackle at the teens' behavior. He turned to go back to his booth and noticed that the little scene had attracted some of the customers' attention. He replaced the amused expression on his face with a cold one and immediately the stares were gone.

Mr. Gold inwardly smirked at the response. Just a simple glace with his eyes and people jumped… people feared him… and that was how he liked it.

…

"Man am I glad that I'm not you!" Ruby giggled as she walked in the middle of Morgan and Florence.

"Yeah, sure. I felt like a fish suddenly being caught on a hook!" Florence faced Ruby and motioned towards his blue eyes. "Did you see his eyes? Did you? He could burn a person with those eyes!"

Ruby laughed and playfully shoved Florence. "What did you two do?" she asked.

"We kinda, sorta, unintentionally, might have trespassed on his land and used it as a treasure hold for the antiques we collected," Florence meekly admitted.

"You did _what?_" Ruby slapped a palm to her forehead. "Oh you guys are screwed! He's going to make your lives miserable! He's going to haunt you for the rest of your lives! He going-!"

"Thank you, Ruby, for making our day a ray of sunshine," Florence said, sarcastically.

Ruby smiled and adjusted her strawberry red beret on her head. "So, Morgan, how's choir practice coming along?"

Morgan held out her hand, palm facing down, and shifted it one way to another like it was balancing a small weight. This was her sign for, "So-so."

Florence stepped in to explain Morgan's response. "They still can't find someone to sing with Ursula for the end of the school year show."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Who would _want _to sing with that girl? She's a stage and limelight hog."

Florence held his arms out in a reverent-like fashion and faced heavenward. "Amen, sister!"

"Now you're starting to sound like Leroy."

"I shudder at the thought."

As Ruby and Florence bantered with each other, Morgan listened with a small smile. She didn't always feel sorry for herself, but it was hard to avoid. She began to think back to what Mr. Gold had said to Mr. Gull. _"I can hardly picture Morgan doing any harm…"_ Why did he always single her out? He didn't say, "Florence and Morgan," he said, "Morgan," _just_ Morgan. Why?

…

"I consider myself a reasonable merman. I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed," King Triton was saying- no; not saying- growling. He had gotten the entire story out of Sebastian and had the crab show him Ariel's secret grotto. As the Sea King looked about him, the sight of so many human objects infuriated him even further.

Ariel and Flounder had been completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of King Triton. Sebastian was with him, but he kept his face to the ground in shame. Ariel struggled to come up with the right words to explain to her father. "But Dad, I..."

"Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?" Triton snapped.

"Daddy, I had to!"

"Contact between the human world and the mer-world is strictly forbidden. Ariel, you know that! Everyone knows that!"

"He would have died!"

"One less human to worry about!"

"You don't even know him."

"Know him? I don't have to know him, they're all the same! Spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling of-!"

"Daddy, I love him!" Ariel blurted out. Immediately, she wished she could take back what she said. Not because she felt ashamed of her feelings for the human, but because they were not the right words to say in this situation.

Triton's eyes widened with shock and horror. "No! Have you lost your senses _completely_? He's a human, you're a mermaid!"

There was no going back now. "I don't care," Ariel said with a slight tremor in her voice. Her father's words were stinging like barbs.

The water seemed to ripple around the Sea King as he tightly grasped his trident with both hands. The pointed prongs of the trident began to glow with a redish gold hue. "So help me, Ariel, I am going to get through to you; and if this is the only way, so be it!"

The Sea King thrust the trident out towards all the human artifacts and a burst of golden light shot forward. It crashed into the objects and destroyed them into small, unfixable pieces. Ariel cried out in surprise at her father's anger. "Father, no!" she begged, but he paid no heed. Triton continued to destroy everything within the grotto until there were nothing left but shattered fragments.

Ariel looked at the remains of her treasures and felt her heart begin to crack. A sob worked its way out of her throat and she flung herself onto a rock. She buried her face into her arms as the sobs grew stronger and stronger.

Triton's hardened expression began to soften as he gazed at his daughter. He couldn't take back what had been said and he couldn't undo what had been done. Ariel had disobeyed him. He was only doing this for her own good… so why did his heart hurt as he watched her cry over these filthy human objects? Triton slowly turned and began to swim out of the grotto, glancing back at his daughter once.

Sebastian and Flounder timidly moved towards Ariel. "Ariel…," Sebastian hesitantly began, "I-…"

"Just go away," Ariel's voice whispered.

Sebastian felt like withdrawing into his shell. How could he have betrayed Ariel? He didn't mean too, but he could have prevented this result. He exchanged a glance with Flounder and the two quietly left the little mermaid alone so mourn.

Once Ariel was certain that she was alone, she lifted her head and sniffed. She let her tortured face be free to twist into whatever expression it chose to display as her sorrow increased. Her eyes roamed over each ruined treasure and the crack in her heart grew. Nothing had escaped damage; even the small music box that had two humans poised in a dance. Ariel picked up the signed figurines and ran her fingers over the burned legs of the female.

An impish voice seemed to echo inside Ariel's mind as she gazed longingly at the male figurine. _"Think about it, princess. When you change your mind… I'll meet you back here at this same time."_ Ariel quickly looked up at the hole in the roof of her grotto to see the moon. Ariel knew she shouldn't consider Rumplestiltskin's offer but… _"Do you really think you'll find happiness under the constant watch of your father?"_

Ariel dropped the dancing figurines and swam to the hole in the roof. No doubt Flounder and Sebastian would be waiting for her at the grotto's entrance. She slipped out, undetected, and steered herself in the direction of the cove.

"Ariel, where are you going?"

Ariel hardly glanced back over her shoulder at the crab as he tried to catch up with her. Flounder was hurrying along with him. "I'm going to see Rumplestiltskin."

Sebastian's jaw nearly hit the ocean floor as he gasped. "Ariel, no! No!" He began tugging on her tail fin, trying to pull her back. "He's a demon! He's a monster!"

Ariel whirled around and fixed Sebastian with a cold glare. "Why don't you go tell my father? You're good at that!" She shook him off her tail and quickened her pace towards the cove, leaving behind a stunned and terrified crab and fish.

**(So what ya thinkin'? Hm? Please leave a review and let me know! And also! 'The Stranger'; EMMA! WHY YOU NO BELIEVE IN CURSE! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Anyways, I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions from you.) **


	6. The Deal is Struck

**(Oh my… I have so many feelings after 'Land Without Magic'. Just … SO…MANY…FEELINGS! I'm extremely excited for the Season Two! In this chapter everything begins to fall into place. I hope this chapter is all you hoped it would be. And just to let ya know, this whole chapter takes place in Fairytale Land. I just didn't want to break up this part and thought it would be best as a whole Fairytale Land update.)  
>[Music suggestion: Listen to 'Mermaids' by Hans Zimmer is probably the closest thing to the music I kept hearing play inside my head as I wrote this chapter. Either that or 'Dealing with Rumplestiltskin' by Mark Isham.]<strong>

Chapter 6

The Deal is Struck

Ariel's head gently broke the surface of the water as she looked about the cove. To say she had been having second thoughts would be an understatement, but her mind was made up and her father's actions always came back to remind her why she was seeking out Rumplestiltskin.

The moon was high in the starry sky and cast a soft glow upon the cove. It provided enough light for Ariel to see. The only problem was… she didn't see anyone. Ariel began to panic. Was she too late? Had Rumplestiltskin given up?

"I knew you'd change your mind."

Ariel looked in the direction the voice had come from and there he was; grinning like the cat that caught the canary. He was perched on the rock he had occupied like last time. His eyes glimmered as he stared at Ariel and he gave a giggle.

"I need your help," Ariel admitted with a slight catch in her voice. The distressed tone was not lost on the powerful imp. His grin went down a notch and he lifted his eyebrows.

"Of course, dearie," he replied in his lilting voice. He crouched down on the rock and beckoned Ariel to come closer. "Come on, princess." Ariel hesitated and Rumplestiltskin wrinkled his brow. "Don't back out now, child."

The little mermaid took a deep breath and swam to the base of the rock. Rumplestiltskin giggled with glee. "Now, then…" He pointed at Ariel's face. "Looks like somebody got a dose of a disapproving father's opinion."

Ariel dabbed at her eyes. Under the water, tears were invisible and Ariel had not realized that she was still shedding them. She ducked her head in embarrassment. "Now, now… no need to cry," Rumplestiltskin said as he tilted Ariel's chin up by the point of his clawed finger. Ariel shivered at the contact.

"I want to be with the sailor," Ariel sniffed, tucking her head back down despite Rumple's attempt to lift it back up.

Rumplestiltskin compressed his lips into a thin line and removed his hand from Ariel. "Well… like I said before, princess, the solution to your problem is simple." He made a flourishing motion with his hands. "The only way to get what you want…," he flicked his hands at Ariel and grinned, "is to become human yourself."

Ariel eyed him warily. "And you can do all that you said before? About making me human?"

Rumplestiltskin held out his arms as if to embrace someone. "My dear, sweet child!" he pretended to gasp. "That's what I do!" He stood to his feet and held a finger in the air. "Now, here's the deal, dearie. I will turn you into a human for three months. Got that?" He joined two more fingers with the one. "_Three months_." Rumplestiltskin withdrew his hand from the air and rolled it around as he spoke. "During this time, you will be able to scour the country side in search of your sailor boy." His hand suddenly ceased rolling and a finger was once again lifted in the air. "_**But**_," he cocked his head to the side and grinned, "you will be staying with me at my estate and you must do as I say or else I won't let you look for him. If you find your sailor, you must get him to fall in love with you before the sun sets at the end of the three months. That is," Rumple put a hand up to cover one side of his mouth like he was sharing a secret, "he's got to kiss you."

"A kiss?"

Rumplestiltskin waved his hands at Ariel's question. "Not just any kiss, dearie! The kiss of Twu wuuv," he sing –songed in a childish voice. "If ol' sailor boy kisses you before the sun sets at the end of three months, you'll remain human _permanently," _he said while moving his left hand in a horizontal line. His grin took on a shady turn. "But…," he knelt down to be eye level with Ariel, "if he doesn't kiss you … you'll turn back into a mermaid and you'll belong … to me." Rumple let out a high pitched giggle while never taking his eyes off of her.

"No, Ariel!"

The two were startled to hear another voice besides their own. Rumplestiltskin's head snapped to the right so fast Ariel thought his neck would break, but it didn't. She also looked in the same direction and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Sebastian and Flounder wading behind a rock at a small distance. Rumplestiltskin simply flicked his index finger at them and Ariel's aquatic friends were suddenly surrounded by a cloud of purple. When the cloud had disappeared, Sebastian and Flounder were nowhere to be seen.

Ariel gasped and turned back to glare at Rumplestiltskin, who was grinning at the empty spot her friends had been wading. "What have you done?" Ariel shouted.

Rumplestiltskin faced Ariel and offered her a mock comforting smile. "Don't worry about them. I simply sent your little friends far enough away from us so they can't interfere." His hand snaked around Ariel's face and drew her closer to him. "Have we got a deal?" he asked.

Ariel stared past Rumplestiltskin as she thought over what this deal could mean. "If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again."

Rumplestiltskin removed his hand from Ariel's face to cup under his own chin as if he were considering this news for the first time. "That's _right._ But you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit?" He giggled and then snapped his fingers as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh! There is _one_ more thing, princess." Rumple steepled his fingers and drummed them against each other. "We haven't discussed the subject of payment. All magic comes with a price, dearie."

Ariel's heart sank at the reminder. She lowered her eyes to the blurry reflection of the moon on the water. "But I don't have any-."

"Neh-eh-eh-eh!" Rumplestiltskin quickly interrupted. "I'm not asking for much. Just aaa token really, a trifle. You'll never even miss it."

Ariel cocked her head to the side. "What is it?"

"Rumplestiltskin's face slowly morphed into a sly grin and his voice dropped an octave. "What I want from you is…_your voice_."

Ariel felt a jolt of shock course through her. "My voice?" she asked, reaching up to grasp at her throat as if he were trying to take it from her already.

The imp jabbed a finger at the mermaid as his grin grew impossibly wider. "You got it, princess. No more talking, singing, _zip_." He popped his lips to over-enunciate the P.

"But without my voice, how can I-?"

"You'll have your looks, your pretty face, and don't underestimate the power of body language." But then again… the girl probably didn't even know how to entice the boys by movement. Rumplestiltskin slightly tilted his head to the side, giving Ariel a once over. Yes. He could tell just by looking at her that Ariel was clueless in that subject. Innocent.

Rumplestiltskin quickly shook off his thoughts and stood to his feet, turning his back to Ariel. "It's either your voice or no deal." He waited for her to respond, grinning mischievously.

"Alright then."

Rumple casually looked at her over his shoulder and nodded. "Now we're talkin'." He turned fully around and flicked his hand, making a scroll and quill appear in his grasp. "All you need to do is sign on the dotted line." He handed the quill to Ariel and set the scroll down on the rock. Her hand was trembling as she pressed the nib against the contract and signed her name. Rumple snatched up the scroll once Ariel was finished and eagerly eyed her signature, nice penmanship by the way.

"Now what?" Ariel asked in a quivering voice.

Rumple's crazed eyes gazed at Ariel's from over the edge of the scroll. "Nooow," he slurred, making the quill and contract vanish in a smoky purple mist. When the mist cleared, a small, golden seashell was in his clawed hands. "Sing."

Ariel licked her lips and swallowed back the sense of dread that was rising up like bile in her throat. There was no turning back. She had signed the contract. Ariel opened her mouth and began to vocalize to a melody that she had invented herself and one that she often sang. There were no words to it, just pure voice and Ariel didn't think it needed words. Her voice rose and fell like the waves and flowed in perfect rhythm to the ocean. It was like the sea itself was singing.

Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sound of the little mermaid's voice. It was unlike the singing he'd heard from other princesses and fair maidens who were said to have the finest voices in the Enchanted Forrest. Ariel's voice was just … unearthly and beautiful.

His thoughts were interrupted when a golden mist began to rise from the seashell in his hands and slither towards Ariel. Rumplestiltskin grinned like the devil he was said to be as he watched the mist slowly change its shape to resemble a pair of sinister hands. Ariel's singing faltered at the sight of the mist. "Keep singing!" he urged her. Ariel kept on with her song.

The mist-like hands reached towards Ariel and she instinctively shrank back. "Ah-tah-tah-tah!" Rumple reprimanded. The hands reached again and this time Ariel reluctantly didn't move. They ghosted across her face and her throat began to glow. The hands then became vapor as it went into her throat and brought out a tiny glowing ball. The moment this happened, Ariel felt her voice was gone but she could still hear it coming from the tiny glowing sphere as the hands slowly floated back towards Rumplestiltskin.

The imp giggled madly as the hands slinked back into the seashell along with the mermaid's voice and the singing ceased. The shell began to glow and he clasped both hands around it. He could feel the magic pulsing inside. Rumplestiltskin looked up from the shell and fixed his gaze on Ariel. His dark eyes seemed to have grown larger and he cackled. Ariel was clutching her throat in disbelief and fear.

Rumple twirled his left index finger in a circle and a small whirlpool began to form around the mermaid. A purple cloud enveloped her as she spun within the watery vortex and Ariel instantly felt something changing. She tried to see what was happening but the purple mist prevented her from seeing anything. She didn't even feel like she was in the water anymore, it was like she was floating above the surface.

The powerful imp watched with rapt attention as the swirling mist completely covered Ariel and lifted her a few feet above the water. Flashes of what could have been small bolts of lightning coursed through the smoke. Rumplestiltskin giggled with mad glee. He knew what was taking place inside the mist. An invisible force swiftly broke out from the smoke and pushed against Rumplestiltskin, making him stagger for a second. He shielded his eyes as he watched the purple smoke disappear and reveal a human form still hovering in the air. With an unceremonious plop, Ariel was dropped from the air and landed in the water with a loud splash. She resurfaced, gasping for air, and wildly flailing her arms about to keep herself afloat.

Rumplestiltskin slapped his knee and laughed good and loud at the spectacle until he realized that Ariel probably had no idea how to swim with legs. It took Ariel's head submerging under water and not resurfacing for about twenty seconds for Rumple to be convinced that this was just the case. He leapt off his rock and grimaced as his skin felt the biting cold of the water. He headed for the last place Ariel had been seen and was rewarded with the sight of her hand breaking through, groping for any kind of support.

Grabbing the girl's hand, Rumplestiltskin pulled her up and held her head above the water. He teleported them to shore and set Ariel down on the sand. She turned onto her side and silently choked and coughed up sea water. Not even a human for two minutes and already she was exhausted.

Rumplestiltskin summoned a cloak into his hands and wrapped it around the trembling girl's shoulders. Now that she was human, Ariel was no longer immune to the chilling temperatures of the sea. Ariel gratefully wrapped the cloak tightly around her body. The light blue dress that Rumple had magicked Ariel into was soaking wet and plastered against her skin, not helping her against the cold at all.

Once she was able to stop shivering so much, Ariel finally looked down where her fin used to be. Rumplestiltskin watched in amused silence as the former mermaid slowly stuck her bare feet out from under the cloak. When she caught sight of her new appendages, Ariel's blue eyes grew round with wonder. She cautiously wiggled her toes as if to see if they were really there. Her face broke out into a bright smile and she wiggled both feet in uncontained excitement. Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but chuckle.

He adjusted his position to be in a crouch, hands dangling between his legs as his elbows rested on his thighs. "Well princess? Are you happy with your new legs?" he asked, smiling. Ariel quickly nodded her head and proceeded to poke at the top of her left foot. "Wonderful." Rumplestiltskin stood to his feet and gazed down at Ariel with a gleam in his eyes. "Now it's time to fulfill the rest of the deal," he said, extending his grey-gold hand for Ariel to take.

In her moment of excitement and joy, Ariel had forgotten about the rest of the deal. The shining light in her eyes dimmed and her smile slowly faded. The grin on Rumplestiltskin's face didn't budge. Hesitantly, Ariel reached up and timidly placed her hand in the imp's grasp. His other hand clamped around her forearm for a better grip as he pulled Ariel to her feet.

The moment Ariel was standing, her legs crumpled underneath her and she clutched onto Rumplestiltskin's jacket to keep her from falling. Rumple's right arm wrapped around Ariel's waist and his left hand held her left elbow. "Careful now, dearie," he cautioned. Ariel's whole body was swaying as she tried to find her balance. She lifted her right foot to take her first step but ended up upsetting her balance and sending her into a top-heavy fall against Rumplestiltskin' chest. "Not so graceful on land, are ya, princess?" the imp teased. Ariel felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

"You'll get the hang of it. Now take it slow." The powerful sorcerer could have very well just used his magic to take them to his estate at the Dark Castle, but he knew that Ariel needed to learn _now_ how to at least take five steps without falling. Besides, he still had some time before he had to go and meet the sea witch. Ariel swayed dangerously to her right and Rumple strengthened his hold on the girl. He couldn't have her injure herself, now could he?

Ariel slid her feet in the sand and beamed when she succeeded in moving a few inches without falling. Rumplestiltskin shook his head. That wasn't going to work at all. "No, no, no, no, dearie. You have to lift your foot."

Ariel furrowed her brow in concentration and slowly lifted her right foot barely an inch from the sand and place it a full foot length ahead. She did the same with the other one and felt a thrill wash over her. She was _walking!_ Her next step ended up catching a higher patch of sand and sent her wobbling forward. She would have face planted into the sand if Rumplestiltskin had not caught her in time.

"Weeell, that's the right idea," the imp giggled.

Rumplestiltskin helped Ariel learn to walk for a least an hour. They finally got to the point where he released her and Ariel could walk on her own at a slow and careful pace. The imp chuckled at how Ariel walked with both arms slightly stretched out, but bent at the elbows, as if she were balancing on a slender beam of wood that was placed very high off the ground. She kept looking at her feet as she took her cautious steps.

Watching the girl take her first steps sent Rumplestiltskin's mind back to hundreds of years in the past. It was memories that he cherished but felt agonizing pain over remembering at the same time. Memories of a dark haired baby boy, named Baelfire, learning how to walk towards his cowardly father for the first time. Rumplestiltskin felt his chest tighten and he banished the memories back into the deep recesses of his mind.

Rumple broke out of his reverie when Ariel tripped and landed with a dulled thud in the sand. She pounded her fist against the ground out of frustration and pushed herself up to sit on her knees. She heaved a muted sigh that made her shoulder's slouch and her head hang low. Most people would have thought she was giving up, but Rumple knew by just a quick glance that Ariel was just tired.

"We've worked enough for one night, princess." Rumplestiltskin walked over and helped Ariel stand. His arm went to support her balance and she gripped his jacket by the shoulder. "Luckily we don't have to walk there," Rumple said with a playful tone. He snapped and the two of them were surrounded by the same purple mist that had covered Ariel, transporting them to the Dark Castle.

**(So what do you think, huh, huh? Was this chapter good? Please let me know your thoughts in a review! Thanks for reading!)**


	7. Collecting What's Mine

**(Hmmmmm. I can't really think of anything to say. Uh… hm. *slaps face* Come on! Moment of genius, moment of genius! …. Nope. Still nothing. Okay. Well, I can really say is that this s the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. Please enjoy!)**

Chapter Seven

Collecting What's Mine

"A, uh, a… sea turtle? No?" Ruby guessed.

Morgan shook her head and added another detail to the picture she was drawing on her whiteboard.

She and Ruby were waiting outside Mr. Clark's convenient store while Florence bought a comic book inside. It was her day off from work and Morgan didn't want to go in… Mr. Clark might have asked if she could come in and work for the day.

The two friends were playing a game that consisted of Morgan drawing something and either Ruby or Florence had to guess what it was and then who the drawing was supposed to be linked to.

Like one time, Morgan had drawn a falling star and Florence guessed Sister Astrid.

"A…" Ruby tilted her head to the side as if the new angle would help her figure out the answer. "A seal?"

Another shake of the head, another detail added.

"A dolphin?"

"_Nope." _Morgan once again shook her head and was about to draw another line when Ruby interrupted her.

"Oh, oh, oh! I know! It's a shark! Right?"

Morgan smiled smugly and shook her head.

"Well dang," Ruby said as she eyed the unfinished drawing, moodily crossing her legs and folding her arms over her chest.

The young waitress stared at the drawing as Morgan added a new line here, a dot there, continuing a line and turning it into a curve. Ruby stared so hard that at any moment she was convinced it would combust into flames.

"Agh!" Ruby squeaked once she figured out the drawing. "It's a whale! Dr. Whale!"

Morgan pretended to applaud.

"Alright guys, I'm back," Florence announced as he walked out of the store, proudly holding his newest addition to his collection of comic books.

Morgan rolled her eyes.

Comic books. She didn't get them. Actually, she didn't really like them.

What was so cool about men in tight-fitted costumes with muscles that looked like they were about to explode? And don't get her started on the women in the comic books! Over-sized breasts that no bra could ever contain and skin exposed for the world to see. And what kind of self-respected women even fought crime in lingerie? There was no arguing the fact that that was exactly what the female heroines' were wearing, the only thing that separated it from officially being called under wear was the fact that they wore masks.

Morgan shook her head to rid herself of the mental rant that had been going on inside her mind.

"Took you long enough," Ruby said, voicing Morgan's thoughts as well. The thought about Florence, not the rant.

Florence's cheeks turned a bit pink. "I got… uh… caught up."

Ruby and Morgan both looked at each other and then at Florence. "Are you blushing?" Ruby asked.

"N,no." Florence ducked his head to avoid their gazes. Busying himself with looking at the comic book in his hands.

Ruby and Morgan jumped to their feet in unison and got closer to Florence, peering at hm like a scientist peers at a rare specimen.

"Oh yes you are!"

"Am not!"

"What did you see in there; huh? Did you accidently peek at a naughty magazine?" Ruby teased.

The red deepened its shade along Florence's cheeks and ears.

"Absolutely not! I-!" He caught himself and sucked in his lips.

"Oh come on, tell us!" Ruby begged, slightly bouncing on the balls of her feet and shaking Florence by his upper arm.

"Mh-hm," he mumbled.

Ruby and Morgan exchanged exasperated looks.

"Kill-joy," Ruby said, moodily.

The door to the convenient store opened and a girl about Florence and Morgan's age walked out. She had long brown hair and brown eyes and pink lips. She caught sight of the group and smiled.

"Bye Florence," she called out, sweetly and waved at him.

Florence had suddenly turned into a stupefied fool as he limply waved back at her.

Ruby zeroed in on Florence the moment the girl was gone. "Who was that?"

"Nobody."

"Aaaaah, I know why you were caught up." Ruby turned to Morgan. "Morgan, who is she?"

Morgan was already writing on her board. She held it up for Ruby to see.

"**Cassy; Florence's crush."**

Ruby's grin turned into an even wider grin. Morgan had always wondered how it was possible to smile so big.

Ruby casually placed a hand on Florence's shoulder, examining the nails on her other hand. "Sooo, what did you two talk about?" she asked.

Morgan was glad Ruby was there. It was times like this where she and Ruby seemed to connect brain waves and be thinking of the same things to say. It was much easier than having to wait for Morgan to write out her thoughts.

Florence's blush had now spread to the back of his neck.

"We...uh… we were both looking at the comic books."

"Aw! How sweet!" Ruby squealed. "A boy comic book nerd and a girl comic book nerd meeting together at a comic book rack." Ruby clasped her hands together and pretended to be starry-eyed. "It's fate."

Morgan sucked in her lips to contain her laughter. Not that it mattered whether it would be heard or not, but it was still something she did by instinct. Almost as if she'd had a voice before.

"It's like True Love," Ruby continued.

"What's like True Love?"

The trio turned as one to see Mayor Regina Mills standing behind them.

Her black hair was perfectly in place despite the slight breeze, her clothes were neat, her shoes spotless, and her manicured nails clean.

"Hello Madame Mayor," Ruby greeted.

Mayor Regina smiled at the teenagers. It was a tight, patient smile. One that gracefully curled her purple lips.

"What was that I heard about True Love?" she asked, throwing an inconspicuous glance at Morgan.

Ruby squeezed Florence's shoulders. "Lover boy here has met his match with a fellow comic book reader."

Morgan curiously watched the smile on Regina's face lose its tightness and relax into one of relief.

"Oh, a _crush_." Regina laughed. Another glance was tossed at Morgan, a relieved one. And this time Morgan had seen it.

Morgan scrunched her face with slight confusion as to the glance Regina had directed at her.

"I was wondering if any of you have seen Henry?" Regina asked, trying to divert the teens' attention from her other question.

Ruby and Morgan shook their heads.

"He's in Mr. Clarks store reading some comic books," Florence answered.

Regina _tsked_ disapprovingly. "I told Henry I didn't like for him to read that garbage."

Florence slowly maneuvered his own comic book behind his back, out of Regina's sight.

"They're not th, that bad."

Regina smiled at him. Not exactly a smile, but more like a smile that said, "Deep down you know I'm right and your opinion does not matter."

"Thank you. I wish you luck on your little romance, Florence."

And with that, Regina Mills gracefully walked away, her black heels clicking on the pavement as she headed towards the store.

"Snitch," Ruby hissed at Florence.

But he wasn't paying attention. His gaze had been caught by familiar limping figure making its way down the side walk .

"Gold Alert!" Florence hissed at Morgan. Morgan winced and the two hid behind skinny Ruby.

They waited until Gold was out of sight, disappearing inside a spare parts store one street away. Morgan and Florence sighed with relief as they came out from hiding behind Ruby.

"You know, I thought you two were crazy for hiding from that guy, but I just remembered something Granny told me about Mr. Gold a week ago."

Florence and Morgan listened intently.

"Sheriff Swan arrested Mr. Gold on Valentine's Day for assault charges."

"What?" Florence yelped.

"Yep. He kidnapped Mr. French and took him to that cabin he owns in the forest and was beating hm with his cane! And all because Mr. French had stolen some of his things as revenge for Mr. Gold taking his work van from him because he was behind in paying Gold off."

Morgan started to fiddle with her hair, twisting some strands around her fingers.

She was remembering that her dad had told her that he had taken a loan from Mr. Gold. How he was worried he might not have the full amount on the due date to pay the pawn broker back. But Morgan was sure that her father wouldn't steal to get the money…

So what would Mr. Gold take if her father couldn't pay him back?

….

_**Later That Night**_

Inside his pawnshop, Mr. Gold stared at the golden sea shell that was placed on top of the glass counter. Ever since he'd found it inside Ariel's –_Morgan's_ little hide out, Gold hadn't stopped thinking about it.

How did Morgan get her hands on it?

Gold carefully picked up the shell and ran his fingers over its sleek surface.

It was faint, unnoticeable to those not familiar with magic, but Gold could feel the weak pulse of the power thrumming inside the shell. Ariel's voice.

A tingling sensation traveled from the tips of Gold's fingers and spread throughout his body. To be in possession of a _trace _of magic made his pulse quicken. An old and familiar gleam lit up his eyes as he coaxed a feeble glow from the shell.

The chimes of an antique clock interrupted Gold's concentration and he turned to look at the timepiece. The faint glow ebbed away from the shell and returned to its normal appearance.

Mr. Gold read the time; seven o'clock. He gingerly put the shell in his suit's pocket and limped from behind the counter to his back office. There were some papers that needed to be made ready for the following morning; a business transaction with Mr. Waters.

….

When Morgan walked through the front door of her home that night and entered the living room, she was stunned to see her father sitting on the sofa, hunched over with his head in his hands. He didn't lift his head as she stood there; he hadn't heard her come in.

"Tomorrow," he kept whispering.

Morgan hurried over and placed a hand on Tyron's shoulder. Tyron gave a violent start and snapped his head out of his hands' grasp to see his daughter worrying over him.

Tyron replaced his distressed expression with a passible smile. "Hi, honey. How was your day?" he asked.

Morgan kept staring at him with that concerned look in her eyes. His smile didn't fool her.

"I'm fine, honey. I'm just tired. Why don't you write out what you, Ruby, and Florence were up to and I can read it while we have dinner?"

Morgan's brow wrinkled as she frowned and she folded her arms over her chest. Her dad wasn't going to get out of this that easily.

Tyron ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Morgan, baby, I can't tell you about it. Okay? It's nothing-," he winced at a sudden pain in his chest- "it's nothing that you can help with."

Morgan's eyes drifted to her father's chest as he started to press a palm over the area that hurt. She looked back up at Tyron's face and sighed.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Now are you hungry?"

…

_**Sunday**_

It was the following day; Sunday. The day the money was due.

Tyron couldn't even think straight. But one thing kept desperately repeating itself in his brain.

"_Get Morgan out of the house. Get Morgan out of the house. Get Morgan out of the house." _

"Honey, we're running kind of low on some groceries. Could you go and pick up some things from the store?"

Morgan nodded. It was a nod that said she could sense something was off, but couldn't tell what it was.

Besides the fact that today was the day Mr. Gold would come to collect his payment. Tyron obviously didn't want Morgan around while the pawnbroker was in the house.

Tyron dug out a twenty from his jeans pocket and frowned at it. "Um…" He went to his wallet and looked inside. He chewed his bottom lip before turning back to Morgan and handing her the twenty dollar bill.

"Let's just see what all you can get off the list with this, okay?"

Morgan slowly nodded as she took the money and the list from her dad. She slung on her messenger bag and headed for the kitchen door that let out to the side porch.

She opened the door and turned to face Tyron. When she was sure he was watching, she smiled and made the heart gesture at him.

"_I love you, daddy."_

Tyron mirrored the gesture, attempting to give his daughter a carefree smile and failing miserably at it.

"I love you, Morgan."

Morgan didn't want to leave, not when her dad was obviously so distressed, but it was clear that Tyron did not want her in the house. So, like a good daughter, she obeyed and left the house; walking to town.

Tyron's pitiful smile dropped the moment the kitchen door closed behind his child and he slumped.

Mr. Gold would be there in half an hour.

Tyron spent the entire time pacing in the living room. He kept nervously glancing at the clock, counting the minutes, running ideas through his head, alternatives, back up plans, etc.

His heart was pounding inside his chest, threatening to burst. Severe trembling had overtaken his hands.

The unthinkable was about to happen. A price he never thought he'd never have to pay was due.

On the dot, the moment the clock stroke twelve in the afternoon, there was a ring at the door.

Tyron's breath hitched in his throat and he eyed the front door in horror.

Was this how those men in folk-lore felt when they made a deal with the Devil and the time came for them to pay up?

But it wasn't his soul he'd sold. No. This… this was something else not quite so severe and yet Tyron felt it was even worse than trading his own soul.

Tyron shuffled to the door and placed his left hand on the knob. A sharp pain began to spread in his left arm and he stared at it until the aching subsided. He opened the door and nearly lost any since of self-restraint when he saw the smug smirk on Mr. Gold's face.

"Mr. Waters, good afternoon."

Tyron silently opened the door wider and stepped aside to let Gold in.

"Thank you," the pawn broker replied, pleasantly. His tone made Tyron's grip on the knob tighten.

He nearly slammed the door shut once Gold was inside the house. The man was glazing about him, as if inspecting the house. Only when Tyron walked in front of the pawnbroker did Gold finally look at him.

"Well Mr. Waters, how are we this afternoon?"

He knew. He knew Tyron didn't have the money to pay him back. He could tell by the smile and the tone of the man's voice.

Tyron's hands balled into white-knuckled fists.

"I'm fine," Tyron growled at the small man.

Mr. Gold's dark eyes glanced over Tyron's shoulder into the living room and met his eyes again.

"Where's Morgan?"

"Out."

Mr. Gold's brow wrinkled at the cold tone Tyron used.

"Out. Don't you think she should have been present for this? Or did you miraculously come up with the money to pay me back for the loan?" Gold asked with disguised sarcasm.

Tyron looked down at the ground. "I … I didn't get the money. I couldn't … I didn't know what to do so I just… I told her to go to the store."

Mr. Gold wet his lips and flicked his brown gaze to the wooden floor boards for a brief moment. "I see." He took to limping steps towards Tyron and waved a hand to the living room. "Shall we?"

Tyron followed Gold like a man condemned to his execution.

There was a small coffee table set in front of the sofa in the center of the room. On its surface was a folder. In it, was the deed to Tyron's fish shop.

Mr. Gold pulled out a manila envelope from inside his coat and opened the seal. He took a small stack of papers from it and placed them on the coffee table next to the folder as Tyron sat on the sofa.

Tyron stared at the papers Gold had placed before him like they were his death sentence.

"Mr. Gold, you have _got _to give me more time! Please!" he practically shouted. He was sweating profusely and his heart was beating so loud that it nearly drowned out any other sound.

"Mr. Waters," Gold said, calmly as he took a seat in a chair near the sofa. He sat straight in the chair, proper, his hands placed on the top of his cane. "We had an agreement and the terms of that agreement _will _be honored. The money is due _today_ and you don't have it."

Tyron ran a hand through his greying hair and put his ball cap back on his head. "One week! Just one week, that's all I ask, and I'll have the remaining two thousand for you!"

Mr. Gold shook his head, chuckling softly. "You know there are no other options. I don't alter my deals. The deal has been struck."

Tyron slowly handed the deed of his shop to Mr. Gold and the pawn broker took it as if it were nothing important.

"I took care of all the legal matters," Mr. Gold told him, gesturing to the other papers on the table. "All you have to do…," he withdrew an ink pen from his coat pocket and held it out to Tyron, "is sign on the dotted line."

Tyron's breathing had become ragged as he took the pen and gazed at the papers. He leaned on forward towards the table, hand gripping the pen, hovering over the papers. He looked up at Gold with pleading eyes.

"_Please_, Gold. I just need a little more time."

Mr. Gold's face was blank, calm, unmoved.

"We had an agreement… now _sign _it."

Something broke inside the fisher man and the tears he'd tried to hide were now beginning to flow freely down his face. Tyron's head hung low and a sharp pain struck at his heart.

"She's my little girl," he choked.

For a moment, there was utter silence.

Tyron looked up at Mr. Gold, hoping to find some kind of emotion on the man's face. Hoping he had a change of heart.

But Mr. Gold was stone.

"I know," Gold said.

Tyron's hope was instantly trampled. He openly wept as he painfully signed his name at the bottom of the paper underneath Mr. Gold's signature.

"And it's done," Gold whispered. He swept up the papers and tucked them back into the envelope.

Tyron's heart broke.

It felt like a knife had run him through. The pain was unbearable and he could no longer breathe.

Tyron's grip on the pen became non-existent and it clattered onto the floor. His head felt dizzy and his left arm went numb.

The room was spinning and Tyron began to sway in his seat.

"Mr. Waters?" Gold said, slightly curious.

Tyron clutched at his heart and gave a strangled cry before slumping to the floor.

"Mr. Waters!"

Gold winced as he knelt down beside the man and flipped him face up. Tyron's eyes were closed and Gold could barely detect any breathing.

There was a phone in the entry hall.

Gold's leg protested as he lifted himself up and limped to the hall.

This wasn't supposed to have happened. This wasn't supposed to have happened.

Gold dialed the hospital and hurriedly conveyed the situation to the person on the other end.

"This is Mr. Gold, I need an ambulance right away, a man's suffering from a heart attack."

….

Morgan was half way out of town when an ambulance sped by her, sirens wailing, lights flashing. It had come from the direction of her house.

Of course, where she was at right now, the ambulance could have come from lots of other houses… but a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach made her quicken her pace. It was kinda hard to run when you were carrying four small bags of groceries.

….

Mr. Gold ran his thumb along the gold handle of his cane as he sat in the living room.

The ambulance had taken Tyron Waters away and Gold had stayed to explain the situation to Morgan when she came back home.

Only thing was; he had expected to tell her a different sort of news… now he had that _and_ the news of her father's heart attack to tell her.

How do you tell a child that?

The sound of a door opening and closing made Gold sit up and look at the entry hall. He could hear her shoes thumping against the floor before he saw her.

Morgan hurried into the living room, arms full of grocery bags.

Gold slowly stood to his feet. "Morgan," he called softly, so as to not startle her.

Morgan snapped her head in his direction and a curious expression marked her face. Clearly she hadn't expected him to still be here.

Gold hesitated to continue, licking his lips and trying to think of what to do next. He always had a plan. He was always three steps ahead of everyone else, but this time… this time Gold had been thrown a curve ball. Tyron was not supposed to have gotten ill.

Morgan began to move to the kitchen and set the groceries down on the counter. She turned back and faced Gold, leaning against the entrance frame work. She folded her arms and nervously stared at him, waiting for an explanation and also glancing around for any signs of her father.

"Morgan," Gold began again. "You're aware that your father came to me for a loan, right?"

Morgan slowly nodded. She was eyeing his cane.

"Your father was unable to gather what he owed me and we signed a contract. I now own what he used for collateral in our deal."

Morgan's face went from nervous to sad. She flicked her eyes around once more, still searching for Tyron.

"He's not here, my dear."

Morgan slowly, inch by inch began to straighten from her leaning position. She gave him a questioning blink and tilt of the head.

"Once he finished signing over what is now mine, your father …," Gold moistened his lips once more, "collapsed."

Gold's eyes stayed on Morgan, watching her take in his news as he continued. "He had a heart attack, dear. The ambulance took him to the hospital. I stayed behind to deliver the news and to … take you to your new home."

Gold never had any difficulty looking anyone in the eyes. In fact, whoever he was making eye contact with always broke the connection first because his gaze unnerved them so. His eyes looked like the normal brown eyes of any other human in this world… but if someone made the mistake of looking into them too long… if they really _looked _into those brown eyes of his… they would suddenly realize that there was something not normal about those eyes at all. And they would avoid eye contact from then on.

Standing there in the Waters' living room, Mr. Gold was finding it difficult to meet Morgan's gaze. Her blue eyes were beginning to water but the flow was stopped when she finally processed the last sentence Gold had said.

"New home?" she mouthed.

Mr. Gold tilted his head to the side. "Your father never told you about our deal." It wasn't a question.

Morgan slowly shook her head, hardly daring to breathe.

Mr. Gold limped a few steps closer and Morgan slightly flinched away. Her body language was telling him that she was on her guard.

"The deal was that if your father did not come up with the money to pay me back, then he would have to sign over the deed to his fish store to me, along with being the legal guardian of you."

Mr. Gold let the words sink in. Morgan stared at him in disbeli-no. With _horror. _

"What?" Morgan mouthed; the tears were beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

"Your father has come close to losing the shop many times before and always managed to scrape by, but in the end," he pointed at Morgan, his brogue thickening as he spoke, "_you_ were the one who suffered. Your own father couldn't take care of ya. If he can't take care of himself and a _fish shop _then he shouldn't be allowed to keep you as his child. You deserve to be properly taken care of and now you finally will be. You'll be living with me under my care."

Morgan's chest felt as if something heavy were pressing against it; she couldn't breathe!

"_No! No! No!" _her mind screamed.

Mr. Gold studied her face and his expression turned to a hint of worry. Morgan was swaying and she looked ill. He cautiously reached out to touch her arm.

"Morgan?"

Morgan threw her head back and gave a silent scream, hands balled into fists, and tears streaming down her face.

"Morgan?"

Gold's fingers ever so lightly brushed against her skin. It was like he'd pulled a trigger.

Morgan jolted and took off running out of the living room, down the hall, and out the front door.

"Morgan!" Gold called, hobbling after her as best he could. But he wasn't able to reach her in time before Morgan ran from the house.

Gold grabbed onto the porch column to support himself as he watched Morgan's figure disappear into the woods.

"Morgan!" he shouted.

He might as well have not even spoken.

**Hey, dear Readers. How was the chapter, huh? I wanted to write more, but I felt like this needed to be the place to stop. Kinda leaves you hanging. *Evil smirk* I know that it didn't have a scene from Fairy Tale world in it, but I promise that there will be more of those to come. Please leave a review.)**


	8. The Terms

**(Alright my Readers, this chapter is pretty long. Actually, it's the longest chapter so far. I seriously suggest listening to the Once Upon A Time's 'Burn the Witch' by Mark Isham while you read the beginning of this chapter. Also I suggest listening to 'Can Anybody Hear Me?' by Meredith Andrews while reading the last part of this chapter when Mr. God leaves Morgan alone in her new room. Either that or 'Silence' by Seal. Those songs keep playing in my head [and my computer] while I wrote those scenes.)**

Chapter Eight

The Terms

Mr. Gold tapped his long index finger against the handle of his cane as he waited for the person he was phoning to answer.

He was standing in the entry hall of the Waters' house as he listened to the ringing of the phone. Just when he was about to hang up and try the number again, a voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello Madame Mayor," Gold greeted in a hostile manner.

"Mr. Gold," Regina replied in a tolerant tone.

"How'd you do it this time?"

"Do what?"

"Don't play games with me, _missy_," he hissed, a bit of his old voice slipping in. He caught the change and corrected it. "Tyron Waters had a heart attack this afternoon after I completed a deal with him. Come, come, _your Majesty_; don't tell me you didn't have a hand in that."

"Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. I can't control _everything _that the curse does."

Mr. Gold's hold on the phone tightened at the flippant way Regina answered him.

"What deal did you have with Mr. Waters?" Regina asked in a low voice.

"What does it matter to you, dearie?" Gold asked in a matching tone.

"The situation is sounding awfully familiar, Gold."

"Yes, it is sounding like this has happened before, isn't it? So you can forgive my growing suspicion of your involvement due to the last incident."

Gold sensed that he'd struck a nerve with Regina by the tense silence on the other end.

"Well…," Regina said with considerable effort at sounding smug. "At least you'll get the ending you want this time."

Gold gritted his teeth and slammed the phone down in its cradle. He took a few seconds to simmer down and dialed another number.

….

Morgan could barely see as she dashed through the woods to town. She didn't know where she was going and she was going and didn't care, as long as she didn't end up with Mr. Gold.

She tripped and went sprawling onto her hands and knees, earning a few scraps and cuts, but she pushed onward until she was in the middle of town. She spotted Granny's Diner and sprinted to it.

Ruby; she had to see Ruby!

As she drew closer to the building, she could make out two figures eating outside under the blue sky. They gave her a wave and a hello, but Morgan ignored them. Stumbling up the wooden steps and nearly tripping once again, she pushed open the door.

Morgan nearly scared everyone silly when she burst through the door and disturbed the quiet atmosphere of the diner. There were a few familiar faces at the tables, but the one Morgan desperately wanted to see wore bright red lipstick and dark eyeliner.

Ruby looked up from cleaning some crumbs off the bar and saw her friend with a ripped pants leg and tears on her dirty face. Both girls rushed towards each other, drawing more curious stares from the customers.

"Oh my gosh, Morgan! What's wrong? What happened?"

Morgan tried to sign with her hands but they weren't cooperating. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn't think of the right signs, she forgot Ruby could barely understand sign language. Every time Morgan fumbled in making a sign it only made her further upset.

Ruby took hold of Morgan's hands when she saw how distraught the younger girl was.

"Hey, how about we go to the back and you write it down for me?"

Morgan sniffed and nodded her head.

Ruby looked at the dirty scrapes on Morgan's hands. "Hey, Granny; where's the first aid kit?" she called out.

"Bottom drawer at the register," Granny's voce shouted from the kitchen. Soon the woman herself appeared, concern written on her face. "Why do you need it?"

Ruby was already grabbing the white container and walking back towards Morgan. "Could you watch the register, Gran? Something's got Morgan upset and she's got some cuts on her hands."

Ruby didn't wait for an answer as she towed Morgan along with her to the small laundry room in the back of the diner.

….

"Hello?"

"Sheriff Swan," Mr. Gold said in a more pleasant tone.

"Mr. Gold?"

"Yes; I need you to find someone for me," Gold said as he began to dig around in his suit pocket for his car keys.

"Last time you said that I ended up regretting it and owing you a favor," Emma Swan retorted.

He had to admit that he admired the young woman's spunk.

"This time t's not a pregnant teenager who went back on a deal. I need you to find Morgan Waters. Do you know her?"

"I've seen her around town once or twice. Why do you-?"

"Her father suffered a heart attack about an hour ago and Morgan took off when I told her the news."

"Why were you the one who told her?"

"I was present when Mr. Waters had his attack."

"Why were you ther-?"

"We were in a business transaction. Now, _please_ Miss Swan. Morgan is out there, upset," Gold emphasized.

"I'll find her. She'll have to be held here at the station until I locate her next of kin."

"She has no next of kin."

"No one? Is there a godparent-?"

"I'm her legal guardian, Sheriff Swan."

A shocked silence slammed into Gold's ear. He could just picture the look on Emma's face right now.

"What? _You?_ How is that possible?"

"I'd love to go into all the detail but then we'd be wasting valuable time that could be better spent in finding Morgan."

"Fine. But when I find her, you and I are going to sit down and you're going to explain to me _exactly _how you became Morgan's guardian."

"Just find her and bring her to my home. Then we can have our little chat," Gold replied and hung up.

…

Morgan handed Ruby the notepad she'd been given to write on. Ruby's eyes grew larger after every sentence. Her bright, red lips parted in surprise when she finished.

"Mr. Gold … is your _guardian_? Like… he's your dad now?"

At the mention of the word 'dad', Morgan felt her eyes well up and she bit her bottom lip to stop the tears.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry Morgan. It's horrible what happened to your dad, but I'm sure he's gonna make it!" Ruby reassured.

Morgan was desperately clinging to that hope. In fact, she was going to go to the hospital right after she finished talking to Ruby.

"This is… unbelievable," Ruby muttered.

"You're telling me."

Ruby and Morgan turned to see Sheriff Emma Swan standing in the doorway, clad in her signature red leather jacket, white shirt, jeans, and riding boots. The Storybrooke sheriff's badge glinted in the dim lighting of the laundry room as she stepped inside.

A fearful look came over Morgan's face.

"Morgan, I have to take you to Mr. Gold," Emma told her, reluctantly.

Ruby grabbed hold of Morgan and pulled her into a crushing embrace. "Nuh-uh! There's no way she's going to live with him!"

Emma stepped further into the room, hands on her hips and a ticked off look in her green eyes.

"I hate this just as much as you do, but I gotta do my job. But I promise you that I'm not just going to dump Morgan there and leave without investigating."

"_Morgan is present," _Morgan thought with a little annoyance.

Emma met Morgan's eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "Morgan… let's go."

Morgan took a deep breath and wiggled out of Ruby's protective hug. She followed Emma out of the laundry room and to the diner door with Ruby close at her heels.

Ruby gave Morgan one more quick hug. "I'll bust you out of there if I have to; you hear me?" she whispered, affectionately.

Morgan nodded and Ruby let her go. The young waitress watched as Morgan followed Emma out of the diner.

Once they were out of sight, Ruby solemnly walked back to the bar counter and picked up her rag to clean the surface.

Leroy was sitting on a bar stool, downing his second mug of beer, and noticed the glum expression on the girl's face.

"What was that about?" Leroy asked, stifling a belch. He lifted his drink back to his lips and began to gulp down more beer.

"Morgan's dad had a heart attack and now Mr. Gold's her guardian."

Leroy inhaled sharply while still guzzling his drink. "Phffft!"

"Ah! Leroy!"

"Heh. Uh… here." Leroy handed Ruby some paper napkins to dry herself off.

….

All was quiet inside the sheriff's patrol car as Emma drove Morgan to her new home. What all could you say when the only person you could talk to was mute?

Emma didn't like the situation one bit. Nope. It was too unreal. Why would Mr. Gold even be considered for a guardian?

The incident with Ashley Boyd and her then unborn baby was still all too fresh in Emma's mind.

Emma glanced at Morgan from the corner of her eye.

What the heck was she supposed to say? She wasn't any good in situations like this.

"You know, Mr. Gold sounded like he was worried when he called me to find you."

She risked turning her head to look at Morgan this time. The teenager was looking soberly out the car window. Emma directed her gaze back to the road.

"I never met your dad … but everyone tells me he's a really great guy."

There was a rustle from the passenger seat as Morgan pulled her feet up onto the seat with her, wrapping her arms around her knees. A lone tear slithered down Morgan's cheek. She quickly wiped it away, but not before Emma saw it.

"_Oh please don't start bawling in the car," _Emma silently begged. She wasn't being insensitive; it's just that if Morgan did start crying then Emma wouldn't know what to do to comfort her. She just didn't know how to do those things.

Emma had grown up without parents there to comfort her when she was young and had learned to deal with her problems without people comforting her. But not everyone lived like she had. Most people had someone there to dry their tears and tell them it was going to be okay and give them hugs. The most Emma felt like she could do give a pat on the back. A rather awkward one too.

"Don't worry, Morgan. I'm going to make sure you'll be taken care of; whether it's with Mr. Gold or not. I promise."

Morgan nodded, still staring out the window.

She wanted to see her father. She wanted to tell Sheriff Swan that. But in her haste to get away from Mr. Gold she'd left her whiteboard in her bag at home.

When would she hear from the hospital?

Sheriff Swan pulled up into Mr. Gold's driveway. They saw the pawnbroker waiting for them on the porch steps.

Emma removed the keys from the ignition and moved to open her door, but sensed there was no such movement coming from the passenger side. Instead, the girl was staring, fixedly, at Mr. Gold. His hands were clasped and settled on top of his cane as he stood, waiting.

Emma looked back at Morgan. "Hey," she said, softly. Morgan met her gaze. "It's going to be fine."

Morgan took a deep breath. As if steeling herself, and opened the car door.

The moment Mr. Gold saw Morgan step out, a small smile formed on his lips. "Morgan," he said, sounding relieved to see her. He limped down a few steps as the two women walked the rest of the way to meet him. "You had me a bit worried there."

"She was at Granny's Diner," Emma told him.

"Ah yes; your friend, Ruby. Went to see her, did we?"

Morgan gave a little nod, eyes on the ground.

Silence ruled for a few seconds before Mr. Gold cleared his throat. "Well, come inside, please," he insisted, gesturing towards the door.

Morgan's first impression when she saw Mr. Gold's house was that A) it was pink. Some would probably insist that it was salmon, but Morgan was gonna go with pink. … Questionable. And B) It was freakin' huge! It was three stories tall and even had a balcony on the third floor.

On entering Mr. Gold's house, Morgan was able to confirm that the outward appearance of the house was no deception as to the space within it. There was a staircase to the immediate right of the double doors and a doorway to another room to the left.

Morgan lowered her gaze to the floor when a burst of color near her feet caught her attention. The setting sun's light was casting its rays against the colored glass squares of Gold's double doors and showering the polished floors with rainbows of red, blue, yellow, and green.

Morgan was not able to see much more as Gold ushered her and Sheriff Swan straight ahead and into the large living room.

….

_**The Enchanted Forest  
>The Dark Castle<strong>_

Ariel's head was in a whirl once Rumplestiltskin's purple mist evaporated from around them. She was thankful that the powerful imp let her get her bearings before making her walk again.

She looked around her to see they were standing outside of a gigantic mountain of stone, but the curious thing about it was its shape. It was unlike the underwater mountains she'd seen in her world, or the one's she had seen from a distance on land.

Ariel tilted her head to the left, giving the thing a more scrutinizing stare.

If she really had to describe it, she'd have to say that it kinda resembled her coral castle.

"Welcome to the Dark Castle, princess," Rumplestiltskin announced.

Oh. So it _was _a castle.

A gentle nudge from Rumple signaled Ariel to start walking. He kept his arm wrapped around her at the waits to keep her from toppling over. She was still not used to the whole walking concept.

"_Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right fo-ah!" _

Ariel tripped on an uneven dip in the path and clung onto Rumplestiltskin's vest. He caught her in the nick of time and helped her back up.

"Don't be getting' the idea that I'm always going to catch ya when you fall, dearie," the sorcerer scolded.

Ariel nodded and relaxed her grip on his vest, taking extra care in where she stepped.

The enormous wooden gates opened by the mere flick of Rumple's wrist and they went through the blockade without any trips from Ariel. They continued down a long dirt path that was lined with plants and small flowers of unknown kind to the mermaid. It was all so new to her!

Ariel paused to examine a flower that had petals as red as her hair and was nearly jerked off balance by Rumple egging her to keep moving. He didn't like to admire the roses very much anymore.

The same thing happened with the castle doors as with the gates, they opened by themselves at Rumple's command. Ariel looked at him with wide-eyed wonder and her just grinned back with the air of one whose already big ego had just gotten even larger.

If Ariel had been impressed with the outside of Rumplestiltskin's castle, then she was completely blown away by the inside.

He led her through the grand hall and up a flight of steps and through many other rooms.

Ariel's head turned this way and that, taking in as many details as she possibly could. She'd never seen anything like this place! All the structures in her kingdom were made of stone, coral reefs, sea shells, and sand; but this-! This was all so different!

A strange sensation crept up upon her bare feet and she froze in place. Glancing down at her feet, Ariel discovered that the strange feeling was that her skin had come into contact with the giant rug that covered half of the dining room floor. She wiggled her toes against the material, grinning at the odd feeling. She'd never felt fabric before.

Rumplestiltskin noticed Ariel's sudden stop and turned his head to see her still investigating the rug. She had knelt down and was running her fingers over each little fiber, smiling as if she was caressing diamonds.

He didn't have the time to wait on her all night as she investigated every little thing that caught her eye.

Rumple loudly cleared his throat to get her attention. When this succeeded, he beckoned with his finger for her to come forward. Ariel wobbled to her feet and tried as best she could to keep her balance as she hurried to catch up to the imp.

"I can't always wait for ya either, princess."

Ariel lowered her eyes to the floor in embarrassment, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

Rumple pointed forward with his index finger and the rest of him followed suit. "Don't think that you'll be living here freely. There are a few …," Rumple gestured grandly with his hands as he searched for the words, "_things _that you'll be required to do."

Ariel tilted her head to the side. "What things?" she started to ask, but no voice came out of her mouth. She constantly had to remind herself that she no longer had a voice. It was inside the sea shell that Rumplestiltskin was currently wearing around his neck.

Rumple scrunched up his face like he was still vague about what he wanted, "Ooh, a few things here and a few things there. But first," he held up a finger, "let's take you to your room, hm?"

Ariel had to admit that she was rather tired. Maybe the reason why she was having such difficulty walking was because she was so exhausted?

Rumple once again motioned with his index finger to the direction they were going and Ariel followed him.

The whole time they were walking Rumplestiltskin kept debating with himself on whether he should put her in the dungeon or not. She was his for three months and he could do whatever he saw fit with her, but she was also still a child. There was also the fact that his deal with Regina required for him to gain some semblance of trust from the mermaid.

Rumplestiltskin was coming up to the fork in the hall where on path lead to the dungeons and the other led to more pleasant quarters. Left, the dungeon. Right, the servants' chambers.

At the very last instant, Rumple turned right.

How would he gain her trust if he threw her in a cold, dark, filthy, cell?

…

Mr. Gold waited for Emma and Morgan to sit on the sofa before he started to speak.

"I know," he grunted as he eased into a seat opposite of Emma and Morgan, "that this must be quite shocking for you, Morgan, but it's also just as much of a shock for me."

Emma's eyes stayed locked on Mr. Gold's face, distrust etched across her features. "I'm waiting for that explanation, Mr. Gold," she reminded him.

Gold moistened his lips and gave her a tolerant smile. Morgan was looking at him too. She wanted answers. And now he had to provide them.

"About six months ago, Mr. Waters came to me asking for help. Business at Atlantica was not doing so well and he was going to lose the shop if he didn't come up with the money within two weeks. I provided him with a loan of five thousand dollars.

"The terms of the deal were that Mr. Waters would pay me back the full amount within six months. So far he'd only been able to pay back three of those thousands. If Mr. Waters did not come up with the money, he'd have to sign his shop over to me."

"So where does Morgan come in?"

"I knew that Mr. Waters had gone through this situation before with his shop. He's not the best of business men. He never really saw how his poor business skills were affecting someone who depended on him." Gold looked directly at Morgan as he said this.

"I told Mr. Waters that the only way I'd give him the loan would be if he agreed to make me the owner of Atlantica and to also give up his rights and position as legal guardian of Morgan if he should fail."

Gold returned his gaze back to Emma. "It was a _legal _business transaction, made _legal _by signing _legal _documents, and now I am Morgan Waters' _legal _guardian. I can show the papers to you if you'd like, Sheriff?" Mr. Gold offered. His tone held a slight challenge to it, as if _daring _Emma Swan to doubt his words.

Emma drummed her fingers on her knee, staring hard at the pawnbroker for a good, solid thirty seconds. Mr. Gold's gaze never wavered from hers.

Morgan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It wasn't that the sofa was uncomfortable, oh no. It was the thick tense air that was filling the room.

"Have you heard anything from the hospital?" Emma asked.

"No. They should be calling me when Mr. Waters' condition is known."

"I'll have to question Mr. Waters. I can think of a few arguments that can be made about the legality of this."

Mr. Gold smiled and scoffed. "Sheriff Swan, I can assure you that you will find no shady dealings in this matter."

"Says the man who meets the mayor out in the woods in the middle of the night and causes explosions."

Gold narrowed his eyes at the sheriff and cocked his head to the side, mouth slightly opening with indignation.

Morgan was looking back and forth at the two adults.

"_Wait! Hitting Mr. French isn't the only bad thing he's done? Explosions? Sheriff Swan, please save me!" _

"So you can see why I'm having a hard time letting this deal go any further," Emma continued.

The phone rang at that moment. Gold reached across to the small lamp stand that was set beside the sofa. He picked it up on the second ring.

"Gold," he answered.

The person stated their identity.

"Hello Dr. Whale."

He listened to the doctor on the other end. His face changed from annoyed at Emma to a quiet surprise at what was being said to him over the phone.

Emma and Morgan exchanged glances and looked back at Gold.

"Yes… Yes I have her with me. How long would you say he'll be like this? … You don't know… Thank you. Good-bye."

Gold hung up the phone and Emma couldn't recall ever seeing Gold look so… surprised. She always had this feeling that the pawnbroker could see into the future or something because of his uncanny ability to be so far ahead of everyone.

Gold's face was as impassive as ever, but his eyes betrayed the unexpected twist he'd just received.

He exhaled and met Morgan's eyes. "Morgan… your father has fallen into a coma."

Morgan's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes.

Gold was silent for a moment as he stared at Morgan, seeing the astonished and pained look on her face.

"Perhaps we should continue our discussion somewhere else?" Gold asked Emma, pointedly.

Emma looked at Morgan and saw what Gold had seen. She nodded at him and they stood from their seats.

"Shall we go into the study?" Gold asked.

"_A study? The man has a study? How many friggin' rooms does he have in this house?" _Morgan wondered.

"Whatever," Emma hissed.

Gold gave Morgan a small smile. "Please, make yourself at home."

Wrong choice of words at the moment. _"Not cool, Mr. Gold. Not cool." _

Mr. Gold led the way for Emma out of the living room. Once they were in the study and Gold had shut the door behind them, Emma jumped right into an argument.

"You think I'm going to let you be the adoptive parent of a kid after what you did to Mr. French?" she snapped.

"I know you will, Sheriff," Gold replied, evenly.

Emma folded her arms and fixed Mr. Gold with a determined glint in her eyes. "No way. You're not getting her."

"Ms. Swan, Tyron Waters and I had an agreement and everything was taken care of. There's nothing you can do. Nothing to fight. I have legal custody of Morgan."

"I don't care about the legal crap! I care about leaving that girl under the protection of a man I stopped from bludgeoning a guy to death!"

Gold wet his lips and eyed the door, wondering if Morgan could hear any of their conversation. The memory of the incident on Valentine's Day came back to him.

"I wasn't myself that day. And it's not a regular occurrence for me to be violent."

"Hello! You blew up the Mayor's office!"

"No one was hurt."

"I don't know of any court system that will agree to place her under your care," Emma retorted.

"Probably the same system that send orphaned children to those awful foster homes," Mr. gold replied in a leveled tone. The remark silenced Emma.

"I can provide for Morgan, Sheriff Swan, in a way that Tyron Waters never has."

"From what I've heard Mr. Waters took very good care of Morgan, so who are you to judge on who are good fathers?"

"Don't misunderstand me. Tyron took care of Morgan as much as a man with no money can. Did you know that Morgan hasn't been to see a doctor since she was seven? That most of the clothes she owns comes from second hand stores and charities?"

Emma remained silent for a moment longer, desperately trying to think of something to argue with, but Gold's points were making it difficult.

"Why are you so concerned about Morgan?" she asked.

Gold flicked his eyes to the handle of his cane. "A child shouldn't have to go without medical attention just because her father can't pay. A child shouldn't have to go through life without so much… they need…"

Flashbacks of another life began to plague him.

"_I need more power so I can protect __you__."_

"_I can conjure anything you desire!" _

"_Name it. What do you want?"_

"_All I want is your happiness, Bae…"_

"They need to be happy."

"But why _her_? Why Morgan?"

"I have my reasons, Ms. Swan. But be rest assured that they're for the best. And now that Tyron Waters is in no condition to take care of Morgan, you have no other choice. Unless _you_ want to bring Morgan home and let her live with you?"

"Mr. Gold…" Emma paused to clear her throat. This was going to be difficult to say. "Morgan will stay with you, _but_-," her voice regained its firm and determined sound, "I will be watching you _very _closely."

"I have no doubt about that, Sheriff Swan," Gold replied with that characteristic smirk of his. "Shall I tell Morgan where her future residence will be?" he asked a little too smugly.

"I'll tell her," Emma snapped. "And there's still a chance Mr. Waters will wake up," she added, her way of trying to win the conversation. Emma walked out of the study, leaving Mr. Gold alone.

"Yes… there's still a chance for that," he whispered.

….

_**Atlantica**_

Triton's head hung low with shame and guilt as he sat in his throne. His eyes fell upon the trident in his hand and his heart wrenched at the memory of what he'd done hours ago. He'd destroyed Ariel's things without any remorse… but when he'd seen the pain on Ariel's face he had instantly regretted the rash action.

"Oh my daughter…" he moaned.

He had wanted to apologize. He'd sought her out back at the grotto, but she was gone. He searched the castle for her, but she wasn't in her room, or any of her normal haunts. Her sisters had no idea where she was. He couldn't find Sebastian or Flounder either.

Triton began to worry and sent out search parties. He was awaiting a report from them.

A tiny seahorse darted into the throne room and waited for the sea king to address him. Triton lifted his head, hopeful.

"Any sign of them?" he asked.

"No, Your Majesty. We've searched everywhere. We've found no trace of your daughter - or Sebastian."

King Triton's guilt built up within him. "Well, keep looking. Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored. Let no one in this kingdom sleep until she's safe at home."

The seahorse seemed to sense the king's sorrow and a sad expression came over its face. "Yes sire," he said with a bow, and swam away.

"Oh, what have I done? What have I done?" Triton mourned.

…

Emma Swan and Mr. Gold entered the living room and found Morgan hurriedly wiping all traces of tears from her face.

"Hey you," Emma started, trying to brighten solemn atmosphere. She didn't really succeed.

Morgan's blue eyes met Emma green ones when the sheriff kneeled in front of her.

"You're going to be staying here with Mr. Gold."

Morgan drew her lips in to a thin line and nodded.

"But I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the two of you. If you don't like it here after… three months, then I will fight to make sure you get a better guardian," Emma assured the teenager.

"So nice to know that you have such faith in me, Ms. Swan," Mr. Gold said, sarcastically.

Emma ignored him and fished a piece of paper and a pen from her jacket. She scribbled down a sequence of digits and held it out to Morgan.

"Here; it's my cell phone number. If anything goes wrong, if you want to leave early, then you call me." Emma realized her words and tried to fix the blunder. "I mean-, uh," she stuttered. Morgan helped her out by miming 'text'. "Yeah. Just send me a text and I'll be there as quick as possible."

Although Mr. Gold was slightly insulted by Emma's obvious distrust in him to care for Morgan, he couldn't help but admire her for being concerned over Morgan's welfare.

"She'll be alright, Sheriff Swan. Now I do believe it's getting late," Gold hinted.

An old grandfather clock chimed the hour and Emma was surprised to hear it ring six times. Where had the time gone?

Emma stood and cast a quick sneer at Gold before slowly walking out of the living room and out of the house.

Morgan flinched when she heard the door close and her eyes slowly roamed back to Mr. Gold. Who stood a respectable distance from her, nearly in the center of the room, with his hands placed on the handle of that dratted cane!

"Shall I show you to your room?" he asked.

Morgan hesitated before answering. She didn't want to sleep here. She wanted to go _home _and sleep in her _own _bed. But she was thoroughly exhausted and had to relent to sleeping in Mr. Gold's home.

Morgan nodded.

Gold smiled and motioned for her to follow.

He led her back to the staircase and to the third floor. "I think you'll like this room," he said, opening the door.

It was the room with the balcony!

There was a queen sized bed with deep blue sheets and fine furniture. Morgan didn't really look around very much; all she really noticed was the bed. She just wanted to fling herself on it and cry.

Gold stood in the door way, watching Morgan as she walked inside and glanced around. A very different girl from the one he'd taken in at the Dark Castle.

Morgan walked over to the bed and lightly touched the blue comforter. She stood there, staring at it. Her mind was barely there. Everything was happening so fast.

Morgan's back was turned to Gold, but he could still tell that the girl was holding in tears.

Mr. Gold cleared his throat after a long awkward pause. "We'll gather your things from your house tomorrow and bring them here. I'll write you an excuse for missing school. You can take as long as you like. If you want, we could also go and visit your father at the hospital tomorrow?"

Morgan nodded.

"Alright then. I'll … leave you alone. Good night, dearie."

Morgan waited for the sound of the door being firmly closed before turning to look. Mr. Gold was gone. She was alone.

Heading for the double-doors that opened to the balcony, Morgan turned the knobs and walked out. The sky was growing dark and despite it being almost summer, Morgan felt cold.

Her father was in a coma. A coma. It was almost like she'd been told he was dead. A coma. There was no telling how long it would last. There was a chance he'd wake up, but how long would that be?

She was stuck here. Stuck with the most hated man in Storybrooke.

Tears prickled in her eyes and this time Morgan didn't hold back anything. She ran from the balcony and threw herself on the bed. Silent sobs and wails of heartbreak issued from Morgan's mute throat.

She shoved her face against the mattress.

This… this wasn't happening.

"_Daddy… wake me up! Wake me up, please! I'm having a nightmare! Please wake me up! Please! Daddy! … Daddy! … DADDY!"_

With each passing moment that Morgan found herself still in the room, she finally came to grips with the truth. This was no nightmare. She was awake.

…

_**The Enchanted Forest  
>The Dark Castle<strong>_

Rumplestiltskin opened the door to Ariel's new room and did a theatrical bow. "Your new chambers, mi' lady," he giggled.

Ariel stepped inside and felt her spirits lower.

The room was very small. It had one window and a small cot for a bed. Thin sheets were what would provide her warmth.

There was a wooden chest at the foot of the bed where she could store some items, and a plain dresser with a cracked mirror and a stool. A threadbare rug was on the floor; nowhere as grand as the one she'd seen earlier.

Ariel took it all in stride and walked further inside, inspecting every little thing in the room.

"You're a curious one, aren't you?" Rumple chortled. "Well, I'll be leaving you. I'll come to unlock you from your room tomorrow at seven sharp and then we can start discussing your duties. Have a lo-ve-ly night," he jeered and slammed the door closed.

Ariel stumbled to the door and pounded on it with her fist. She didn't want to be left alone so suddenly. She kept pounding on the door but he never returned.

Ariel gave up and wobbled to her bed. She lay down and curled into a little ball, covering herself with the thin sheets.

Doubt began to nibble at Ariel. How could she be sure the imp would keep his end of the bargain? Would he purposefully detain her from finding her sailor?

Horror made her heart flutter at the thought.

She suddenly missed her father and sisters and friends. What would they think happened to her? Her father would be sick with worry.

"_I'm here, daddy. I'm safe… I think. Please don't worry. I'm sorry." _

Ariel soon fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of her sailor.

**(So! How many of you enjoyed this chapter? Let me know by giving me a review! I swear the review button doesn't bite! I hope you like this chapter! Things will be moving right along now!) **


	9. Late Night Encounters

**(I'm so freakin' psyched for Season Two of Once Upon A Time! Who else is?)**

Chapter Nine

Late Night Encounters

Morgan cautiously padded down the stairs and nearly jumped out of her skin when the old grandfather clock decided to inform her that it was two o'clock in the morning. When the timepiece finished announcing the time, Morgan threw it a glare and silently shushed it, placing a finger over her lips. She quietly crept down the main hall and peeked into the rooms, trying to find the kitchen.

Mr. Gold had tried to coax Morgan out of her room to join him for dinner but Morgan had slid a note under the door that said, **"Not Hungry." **And she honestly hadn't been up until a few minutes ago. The shock of her father's heart attack and her new living arrangements had worn away enough for her to start feeling other things, like hunger. She was starving!

A low growl was heard from her stomach and Morgan quickly wrapped her arms around her middle. _"Shhh!"_ she thought; as if Mr. Gold had hearing that good.

Morgan tiptoed through the house until she found the kitchen and began opening the cabinets in search of food. Maybe a bowl of cereal would tide her over till breakfast. But as she looked through the cabinets, she didn't see any kind of cereal. Well… she couldn't really picture Mr. Gold as the type who ate cereal anyways.

Morgan kept searching for anything that would be a quick snack but most of the food she found required a bit of cooking. Did the man even own a toaster? She pulled open a drawer and found nothing but cooking utensils.

"And here I thought a dangerous criminal was prowling about my home."

Morgan let out a voiceless gasp and grabbed a wooden spoon to use as a weapon. She whirled around and flung herself against the pantry door, the spoon extended out like she was wielding a knife. Her heart was racing from the surprise appearance of Mr. Gold. He sure liked to startle her.

Her relief was short-lived. Morgan's heart leapt into her throat when she caught sight of a gun in Mr. Gold's hand. Her blue eyes flew open as she zeroed in on the dangerous instrument.

Mr. Gold chuckled and laid the gun down on the island counter beside him. "Don't be surprised, Miss Waters. When you're a man like me…," he looked at her from the corner of his eye, "it's best to have some form of protection. Besides… you never know when someone might come into your home with a weapon as dangerous as a wooden spoon."

Morgan's gaze shifted to the spoon she held awkwardly in her hands and she blushed. She put the spoon back in the drawer and closed it. Her eyes trailed down to Gold's lame leg and the cane he held.

"Were you wanting something?" Mr. Gold asked.

Morgan shook her head, only to have an audible rumble from her stomach betray her. Morgan quickly clutched her stomach, embarrassed.

Mr. Gold smirked as he eyed the source of the noise. He gave a dry chuckle and wet his bottom lip. "Morgan, would you like something to eat?"

Morgan let her shoulders slump and her head drop low, hiding her face as she gave a pathetic nod. Mr. Gold limped over to a cabinet Morgan hadn't searched yet and pulled out a silver toaster.

"_He does have a toaster! There's hope!" _

"How about some toast? Will that hold ya over until a proper breakfast can be made?"

Morgan nodded.

Mr. Gold waved Morgan out of his way and told her to go sit at the kitchen counter. Morgan complied and sat herself down on a bar stool, leaning forward on the counter top with her head resting on her arms as she watched Mr. Gold.

As they waited for the toaster to work its magic on the bread, Mr. Gold observed Morgan's appearance. She had been crying hard for hours. Her eyes were still a bit red.

"What exactly did you think you were going to do with that spoon, my dear?" Mr. Gold asked, smirking.

Morgan gave an embarrassed shrug and looked away from him.

The toast popped up and Gold placed it on a plate, sliding it across the counter towards Morgan. She picked away the bread crust, her nose scrunched up in a way that told him Morgan didn't like bread crust when it was toasted. He'd have to remember that. Morgan nibbled on her snack as the two glanced at each other in an awkward silence.

Mr. Gold turned and put the toaster away. "Since we have a few errands to run tomorrow, I thought we could eat breakfast at Granny's Diner so we could get an early start."

Morgan nodded, getting a few crumbs on the counter as she bit into her toast.

"Alright then."

Morgan finished the toast and picked up her plate to put in the sink. She walked past Mr. Gold to leave the kitchen when he gave a lough, "Ahem!" Morgan turned around to face him. He inclined his head at the crumbs she'd left on the counter.

Morgan trudged over and swept the crumbs off the edge of the counter and into the palm of her hand, dropping them into the small waste basket by the island counter. She looked back at Mr. Gold and he gave a nod of approval. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes at him as she once again walked out of the kitchen.

"Good night…. Ariel," Mr. Gold whispered.

…

_**The Enchanted Forest**_

Rumplestiltskin waited until he was sure Ariel was asleep before leaving the castle. When he finally arrived at the cave of the Sea Witch, it must have been well past midnight. He whistled part of a little ditty that was popular to sing in taverns and chuckled when he saw the young witch glaring at him with her arms folded over her chest. She was wading in the pool that she always occupied when they met. The imp playfully skipped over to the edge of the pool, stopping in the middle of his whistling to grin at her.

"I trust that this display of merriment means you have what I asked for?" she hissed.

For an answer, Rumplestiltskin made a grand show of pulling the iridescent sea shell out from beneath his tunic. The witch eyed it greedily and her fingers twitched with the anticipation of holding it. Just as she made a grab for it, Rumplestiltskin whisked it out of her reach.

"Neh-eh-eh-eh! Now about my price," he reminded, holding up an index finger and grinning.

"Name it," the witch hissed, breathlessly.

"You can only have this right here…," he wiggled the thin leather strap he used to carry the shell, "if I get the girl and you bring no harm to her."

The witch paused at his statement. "What?"

"I'm sorry, did I mutter?" the imp asked, sarcastically. "You will leave the water child alone. I'll give you her voice and I keep her."

The sea witch blinked as she considered his words. Leaving the mermaid alive would put her plan of winning the prince at risk. What if the mermaid tried to seek him out? But all her plans would surely fail if she did not have the mermaid's voice.

"Deal," the witch finally answered, reaching for the shell once more.

"Oh, and I should probably mention that I gave the princess three months and a pair of legs to go out and look for her prince," Rumple added quickly, as if it were of no importance.

"What?!" the witch shrieked.

"In exchange for her voice I gave the mermaid legs and three months to search for her True Love and get him to kiss her."

The sea witch's violet eyes flashed. "You tricked me!"

Rumple held a finger up in the air. "Hold on, missy. I didn't tell you everything."

"That is quite obvious, you devious devil man!"

Rumple made a face at her and then smiled as he continued to speak. "During those three months, she'll be under my care. I'll keep her busy enough to where she'll hardly have any time to search for 'True Love'," he said in a mockingly dramatic tone. "If she doesn't find him before the sun sets at the end of three months, then she'll turn back into a mermaid without a voice and belong to me forever. I understand that mermaid scales can be used to make powerful magic potions."

The sea witch smiled, showing her sharp teeth. "I think you just earned a little respect from me."

Rumplestiltskin gave a theatrical bow and giggled. The sea witch held out her hand. "Give me the girl's voice."

Rumple removed the sea shell from around his neck and tossed it to her. The witch caught it with one of her tentacles and then brought it closer before transferring it into her hands. The shell began to glow more brightly and the witch shuddered.

"Soon I'll be the one who will have the prince wrapped around my finger."

She closed her eyes and tilted back her head, her hands open with the shell nestled on her palms.

"_The voice of one who has won his heart  
>Voice and owner set apart<br>From one body to another  
>Mold and form together<br>Temptress of oceans  
>Siren of seas<br>Let Ariel's voice belong to me!"_

Rumplestiltskin's brow wrinkled at the sound of the witch's words. She was using old, _ancient_ magic. Hardly anyone used chants or incantations anymore. He couldn't recall ever hearing Regina or Maleficent ever uttering magical words as they cast their spells. He certainly never did.

Once the sea witch finished her chanting a flash of light lite up the cave, making Rumple shade his eyes. Purplish black fog began to surround the witch and golden beams of light were emitting from the sea shell now being clutched in the witch's hands.

Soon the witch couldn't been seen through the thick fog, only the occasional flash of light revealed her silhouette as it began to transform from its monstrous form into something else. Rumplestiltskin backed away, still shielding his eyes as he watched.

Suddenly a burst of golden light erupted from the fog and everything became still. The fog slowly disappeared. There was no one there. The sea witch was nowhere to be seen. Unless…

Rumplestiltskin inched closer to the pool's edge and peered down into the dark water. Nothing… until it began to bubble violently and an arm shot up from the water, slapping against the rocks and grasping for a hold. Rumple made no move to assist the witch as she emerged from the water, pulling herself out of the pool, gasping for breath.

Deep brown hair veiled her face as she coughed up sea water, remaining on her stomach as she rested on the rocks. A black dress clung to her new human form. She regained her breath and shakily got to her feet, much quicker and surer than Ariel did. The witch moved her wet hair away from her face and Rumplestiltskin lifted both eyebrows. It was a drastic change to be sure.

"A mirror," she demanded, she was too exhausted to conjure up one herself.

Rumple twirled his hands around and a hand held mirror appeared. She snatched it out of his grasp and gaze upon her reflection.

"Perfect…" she murmured.

Indeed she was. The sea witch had the face on one whom many men would die for. Full lips, high cheeks bones, a delicate nose, and a figure that was a little more developed than necessary for a girl her age. She had to get the prince's attention after all. Her voice was smooth as silk and seemed to hold a hypnotic lilt in every syllable. A drastic change from the hissing, horrific voice she had before. It was Ariel's voice… but it was different. It didn't sound right. It didn't sound pure like it did when Ariel had spoken to Rumple. The sea witch's eyes had remained the same; violet.

Suddenly the reflection in the mirror reverted back to the horrible face of the sea witch.

"Ah!" she screamed. "It didn't work! I changed back!"

"No you haven't, missy," Rumplestiltskin assured her. He took hold of one of her hands and held it up for her to see.

The witch observed her hands and legs, making sure nothing had changed back into the hideous creature she once was. "I don't understand," she said.

"Mirrors are known to show people their true selves. So if I were you," he cast a sly glance at the mirror she held, "I'd stay away from reflective objects as much as possible."

"I see."

"Well, little witch, I must be off-." Rumple began and then felt the grip of a hand on his arm.

"Not just yet. There's one last thing to check."

"And what's that?" Rumple asked, sighing.

The witch opened her mouth and began to sing. Rumplestiltskin listened to the mesmerizing sound that came from the witch.

"_It doesn't sound right," _he kept thinking.

The witch wasn't pure like Ariel, hence why the voice just didn't hold the same quality. It was still beautiful, but it wasn't _right_. Only those who had heard Ariel sing before might have noticed the difference. It was so slight that most would have probably overlooked it, but not Rumplestiltskin. No; he was _all about _the tiny details_. _

Once the witch finished singing, Rumplestiltskin gave a halfhearted applause. "Satisfied, little witch?" he asked.

"Vanessa."

"Hm?"

"My name shall now be Vanessa."

"Fine, yes, yes. Now as long as you hold your end of our bargain, then you'll keep that lovely voice. Good –bye, Vanessa."

Rumplestiltskin turned and began to walk away, slowly vanishing before Vanessa's eyes.

**(How'd you like it? I know it was shorter than the last chapter, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I really would like to hear your thoughts on this chapter or the whole story so far in general. Just give that review button a little clickety-click and let me know! Thank you all so much for reading!) **


	10. New Surroundings

**(I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in a long time! College life is demanding, I had to help make costumes and be a dresser for a musical called, **_**Children of Eden**_**; I also have been moving into a new house that was built back in 1914 and it kinda reminds me of the inside of Mr. Gold's house. **__**I'm also on the hunt for a new job that pays me better because apparently you need money to survive in this world. Crazy, right? Anyway, my spare time has been severely reduced and I wish I could say that the updates will be flowing regularly but I can't. I can't even give you a estimation of when my next update will be. I hope you enjoy this chapter though. Oh! N this chapter another fairytale character is introduced! Let's see if you can guess who!)**

**[Every time I thought about Morgan going to the school with Mr. Gold, I kept hearing 'New Perspective' by Panic! At the Disco playing in my head. So I suggest listening to that when Morgan and Gold swing by the school. The other songs in this chapter are; 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' by Def Leppard, 'Uptown Girl' by Billy Joel, and 'Brick By Boring Brick' by Paramore.]**

Chapter Ten

New Surroundings

Mr. Gold checked his pocket watch and glanced up at the stairs. He'd been up since seven-thirty and had planned on leaving the house before nine with Morgan. It was nine o'clock now and she hadn't come down from her room. He waited ten more minutes.

When Morgan still failed to show he sighed and trudged up the stairs, crossing the hall to Morgan's room. He opened the door and let out another sigh when he saw that the young teenager was still asleep in bed.

"Morgan," he called, limping to the side of her bed. When he saw the girl had her iPod's ear buds in her ears he knew she couldn't hear him. Morgan's blue iPod was lying right beside her pillow. Mr. Gold picked it up, intending to stop the music but he paused. A familiar, imp-like smirk took over his face as he looked at the sleeping girl and ran his thumb over the two buttons that controlled the iPod's volume.

Gold checked what song was playing on the iPod screen to see if his little stunt would work. The song title caused his right eyebrow to twitch upward. "'Pour Some Sugar on Me'?" he quietly read aloud. He had never heard of it, but judging by the album's cover art it promised to be loud.

"Time to waken up, Morgan."

Mr. Gold mashed his thumb on the volume button and soon the lyrics could be heard blasting through the ear buds.

"_**Pour some sugar on me!  
>Ooh, in the name of love!<br>Pour some sugar on me!  
>C'mon, fire me up;<br>Pour your sugar on me  
>Oh, I can't get enough!"<strong>_

Morgan violently swatted the air and lurched up from the mattress. She yanked the ear buds out of her ears making the rest of the song more audible.

"_**I'm hot, sticky, sweet  
>From my head to my feet; yeah!"<strong>_

Morgan looked up at his face with blurry, confused eyes, and blinked. Her eyes followed the ear bud cord from her hand to the iPod resting in Mr. Gold's palm. She glared and snatched the device away from him.

"_**Listen! Red light, yellow light, greena-light, go!  
>Crazy little woman in a one man show!<br>Mirror queen-!"**_

Morgan clicked the iPod off and let her head fall limply into her hands. Mr. Gold cleared his throat and she tiredly peeked up at him.

"Is that really an appropriate song for you to be listening to?" he asked, partially teasing.

"'_It should take you four seconds to walk out that door; I'll give you two'," _Morgan thought, thinking of Audrey Hepburn's line from _Breakfast at Tiffany's_.

Mr. Gold's teasing manner went away and a more serious look replaced the amusement. "Now maybe I didn't make myself clear last night when I said I wanted to get an early start? Maybe the term 'early' means two different things to the both of us? But when I say 'early', I mean before nine o'clock. Are we on the same page now?"

Morgan lifted one hand from her face and pointed a finger towards the door. You didn't have to know sign language to understand what she was telling Mr. Gold. _"Out!"_

Mr. Gold went out the door, closing it behind him so Morgan could get dressed in private. A smirk kept twitching at his lips as Morgan's reaction to his wake up call replayed over and over in his mind. He had let his true self have his fun for the day… well… for the morning at least.

He headed for the stairs but paused, glancing back at Morgan's door with a perplexed look on his face. "'Pour some sugar on me'?" he repeated. Was that really where this world's music was at? Mr. Gold shook his head and carefully made his way down the steps.

….

"Morgaaaan!" Ruby squealed when Morgan and Mr. Gold walked into the diner. Her heels clicked loudly on the floor as she quickly trotted over and wrapped her arms around the red-head. Ruby pointedly ignored Mr. Gold as she gave Morgan a great big bear-hug. He stepped aside to avoid being bumped into.

"_Geez, Ruby. You saw me last night," _Morgan couldn't help but think.

Ruby held her out at arm's length. "You're alive!" She then proceeded to pull Morgan into another hug.

Morgan caught Mr. Gold roll his eyes. "Did you expect me to eat her, Miss Ruby?" he asked with as much sarcasm as possible.

"Ruby," one of the other waitresses called.

Ruby shot the other girl a look and gave Morgan's shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be right back," she promised, and hurried over to help the other waitress.

"Apparently your friend thinks even lower of me than I thought," Gold remarked as Morgan slid into the chair opposite of his at a table. Morgan's face crinkled in embarrassment but she kept her eyes on the table.

"What will ya be havin' for breakfast?" Mr. Gold asked, his Scottish brogue heavy on his words.

Morgan finally did meet his gaze and she began to sign to him, only to stop mid-way when she remembered he wasn't familiar to sign language. She then moved to reach for her messenger bag for her board and realized she still didn't have it with her.

Mr. Gold immediately knew what Morgan had been reaching for. "We'll stop by your house and gather your belongings after breakfast. You don't need to be inconvenienced without your board any longer."

Morgan nodded her thanks.

Ruby caught one waitress, Courtney, heading over to Morgan's table to serve them. She hurried over and grabbed Courtney by the back of her shirt, pulling her away and jumping ahead. No way was she going to give up the opportunity to talk to Morgan now. Who knew how often she'd get to see her now? Mr. Gold might keep Morgan on a tight leash and never let her out to see friends like that story about the old witch locking up Rapunzel in a tower! Courtney only blinked and moved on to another table, letting Ruby take this one.

"What will you be having Mr. Gold?" Ruby asked, no smile on her face whatsoever.

"Coffee, eggs, toast. I'm really not that hungry today."

Ruby scribbled it down and turned to Morgan. The smile she had denied Gold suddenly broke out for Morgan. Gold nearly did a double take when he saw the difference in her face expression.

"The usual, Morgan?"

Morgan nodded.

"Right. Two grilled cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs, some sausages as an extra side, toast with apple butter, and a glass of orange juice."

"My, someone has an appetite," Gold chuckled.

Morgan gave Ruby an exaggerated thumb up, nodding her head in approval. Ruby's smiled widened, revealing her glimmering white teeth. "Okay. I'll be right back with those drinks." She turned and 'click, click, clicked' her way to the opening in the wall that let the waitresses communicate with the cook and she clipped the order slip in its proper place for him to see.

Morgan watched as Ruby hurried to pour the drinks and walk as fast as possible back to her and Mr. Gold's table. It made Morgan want to bury her face in her arms and laugh. Instead, Morgan picked some lint off the sleeve of her turquoise blue hoodie and sucked in her lips to keep from smiling in front of Mr. Gold.

Ruby set their drinks down in front of them.

"Thank you, Ruby," Mr. Gold said and lifted his coffee mug to his lips. He paused mid-way when he saw Ruby hadn't moved from her spot. "Ahem," he coughed.

Ruby gave Morgan a hesitant glance but the girl tilted her head in a way that said, "It's okay. Go on."

Ruby sighed and moved away, obviously put off that she wasn't going to be able to hear anything. But that wasn't going to stop her from trying to overhear snippets whenever she passed their table.

Silence governed the table once the waitress had gone and it made Morgan fidget. She could make out the lyrics to the song playing on the junk box behind her at the far end of the diner.

"_**She'll see I'm not so tough  
>Just because<br>I'm in love with an uptown girl  
>You know I've seen her in her uptown world<br>She's getting tired of her high class toys  
>And all her presents from her uptown boys<br>She's got a choice;**_

_**Uptown girl  
>You know I can't afford to buy her pearls<br>But maybe someday when my ship comes in  
>She'll understand what kind of guy I've been<br>And then I'll win…"**_

Morgan tapped out the beat with her right index finger against the table top. She peeked up at Mr. Gold to see if it was annoying him. Her brows furrowed when she couldn't read his expression.

"_Man, he's got a mean poker face when he's not smirking suspiciously," _she thought.

Eventually she stopped tapping and slumped unlady-like in her chair. This breakfast was going to go down in The History Book of Most Awkward Moments. It would probably be listed right underneath the car ride with Mr. Gold to the diner. After getting over the surprise of finding out Mr. Gold did indeed own a car, Morgan was hit with another shocker. The man didn't listen to music while he drove. None whatsoever! It was extreme torture to Morgan who always had to have music playing.

Morgan nearly clapped when Ruby arrived with their food. She mouthed, "Thank you," to the waitress and Ruby responded with a mouthed, "You're welcome," in return.

They didn't linger in the diner after they had finished their meal. Mr. Gold immediately stood and smoothed his suit free of wrinkles. Ruby made a frustrated face when she realized she wouldn't get to talk to Morgan as Mr. Gold paid the bill. Morgan waved good-bye to her friend and followed Mr. Gold out of the diner.

….

When they pulled up in the drive way, Morgan felt as if her heart was in a vice grip. She didn't think it would be painful to walk inside the house she'd grown up in, but it was. Each room brought memories she had shared with her father.

They went straight to Morgan's room, Mr. Gold opening the door for her. Having him in her room was extremely uncomfortable. It almost felt violating.

"Well, I suppose we should start packing your clothes first. Pack what you need and we'll come for the rest later," Gold suggested. He picked up a red duffle bag from the floor and it was promptly snatched out of his hand by Morgan. She hugged it tightly to her chest and gave Mr. Gold a blank look.

Gold's hand fell limply at his side. "Yes… well… I'll leave you to it."

Morgan nodded, keeping her eyes trained to the floor boards. She waited until the rhythmic thud of Mr. Gold's cane faded as he left the room. Morgan dashed towards the door and slammed it closed. Slowly, Morgan unfolded her arms and set the duffle bag on the bed, unzipping it open. With a deep sigh Morgan went to the radio on her dresser and flipped it on.

….

Mr. Gold flinched at the loud sound of Morgan's door slamming closed. He was just stepping off the last of the stairs when he heard the music coming loud and clear from Morgan's room.

"_**She lives in a fairy tale  
>Somewhere too far for us to find<br>Forgotten the taste and smell  
>Of a world that she's left behind<br>It's all about the exposure, the lens, I told her  
>The angles are all wrong now<br>She's ripping wings off of butterflies**_

_**Keep your feet on the ground  
>When your head's in the clouds<strong>_

_**Well go get your shovel  
>And we'll dig a deep hole<br>To bury the castle, bury the castle!  
>Go get your shovel<br>And we'll dig a deep hole  
>To bury the castle, bury the castle!<br>Ba-da ba ba-da ba ba-da!"**_

Gold had to suppress a laugh at some of the lyrics he heard coming from upstairs. Considering Morgan was part of a fairytale. Gold wet his lips and continued walking through the house, pausing to look at pictures on the wall of Tyron and Morgan.__He focused on the photos. There was one picture that really grabbed his attention. Picking it up for closer inspection, gold's brown eyes took in the two faces smiling back at him. Morgan and her mother, Athena; Monica in this world. 'Monica' meaning 'wise counselor'. How fitting since she was named after the goddess of wisdom.

Morgan faired after her mother. Athena was where she got her red hair but it was far more bright and vibrant than her mother's. Both shared similar facial structure. The one thing really different between the two of them was that Morgan had blue eyes and Athena had hazel green.

Gold must have been staring at the photo for a long time; he was startled by the sound of Morgan's door opening and her footsteps thumping on the floor. He put the picture down and limped to the stairwell. Morgan was at the very top, lugging her red duffle bag on her shoulder.

"Are you ready, my dear?"

Morgan shook her head and slid the bag's strap her shoulder and tossed the bag down the stairs. It landed with a loud thud a foot away from Gold's left leg. He glanced up from the bag at Morgan's retreating back. His fingers tightening around the handle of his cane. Now Morgan was just being plain rude. He flexed his hand to release the tension, debating on what course of action to take. The loud music blaring from her room wasn't making matters any better; a different song this time.

Morgan appeared later with another bag, but this one had wheels and a handle. She walked down the stairs with it this time. It must have contained something other than clothes.

"Is that enough to last you for now?"

Morgan ignored him and moved to walk past Gold. A vice-like grip clamped around her wrist, stopping Morgan from going any further. Morgan fearfully met Mr. Gold's eyes; he stared into her own with a stern glare. "You may be a mute, dearie, but I still expect an answer. A simple head nod will suffice."

Morgan took a moment to swallow before nodding.

"That's better." Gold released Morgan's wrist and she quickly hurried out the door, leaving behind her duffle bag. Gold regretted his actions. It had been a little harsh, but the girl wasn't going to think she could treat him like that. Gold grunted as he bent over and picked up Morgan's forgotten bag and carried it to the car.

….

"We'll visit your father after we stop by the school and pick up your assignments. I imagine you'll want time to adjust to the situation before going back."

Morgan just nodded as Gold drove them in the direction of the high-school. It wasn't very far from the middle school where Henry Mills went. As they drew nearer to the school, Morgan felt herself slowly slouch further and further into her seat. She was not looking forward to this. People already ostracized her because she was mute and the daughter of a fisherman. How would the student body treat her once they found out who her new guardian was?

The car pulled in to the parking lot and Gold switched off the engine. He and Morgan climbed out of the car and closed their doors. He paused when he saw Morgan not move away from the vehicle. Her gaze was fixed on the school. She had the same look on her face when she had been sitting in Emma's car outside of Gold's house. Something was keeping her from going inside.

Gold walked around to be next to Morgan's side. "is something wrong?" he asked.

Morgan blinked and looked at him as if she'd just been woken from a dream. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and let her shoulders slump as she walked towards the building. Gold followed her without much difficulty.

The moment they entered, the bell rang to signal a class change. Morgan braced herself for the oncoming rush of bodies that invaded the halls. The stares began then. Mr. Gold was a feared man throughout the town and here he was walking Morgan into the school. Whispers were passed along and more attention was drawn to Morgan and Gold. Morgan kept her head low and her hands stayed in her pockets as she pushed through the crowd to her first class. Mr. Gold didn't have to do much pushing, the students and teachers parted whenever he got close to them.

The duo went from class to class, Gold explaining the situation to the teacher and Morgan keeping her head low, ignoring the stares of other students. Once they reached Mr. Gull's history class, Morgan finally brought herself to look up. Mr. Gull's eyes filled with sympathy and he shared a glance with her.

"Uh… yes, I'll uh, I'll just hand those assignments right over." He opened the drawer to his desk and shuffled through the papers. "Oh, uh… I don't have them printed out yet. It would take a little bit of time for me to print them out right now and-."

"We're in a bit of a rush at the moment, so maybe you could have a student in her class bring the assignments to her."

"You mean… at your home?"

"Yes. I thought I had made that part very clear?"

"Well, um…" Mr. Gull looked at his students. "Would anyone be willing to bring Morgan's classwork to her after school?"

It wasn't a surprise when no one immediately raised their hand. Morgan and Florence shared the same history class, but he wasn't there. Morgan wished he was. She wanted to see him. After a slight pause, a hand was raised in the back. Mr. Gull smiled and nodded. "Miss Lily Scarlett, are you volunteering?"

Lily Scarlett stood up from the very back desk in the left corner of the room. She appeared to be much older than the rest of the students. She had long black hair and grey eyes and a very pretty face. She wore a red hair band and sported a red shirt with intricate rose designs splayed along the front. She also wore a white skirt that reached her knees and black boots that came up to mid-calf.

"Yes, Mr. Gull. I'll be happy to."

Mr. Gold's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he gazed at Lily; as if he were trying to recall seeing her before.

"Miss Scarlett is a college student that has been monitoring many of the teachers here to help her get a feel for the career of a teacher. Eh, what subject are you wanting to teach?"

"Zoology."

The only reaction Gold gave was an imperceptible twitch of his left eyebrow as he smiled at Lily Scarlett. "That's quite a field to teach."

"Thank you."

Morgan and Lily made eye contact. Lily smiled gently at her. "I hope six o'clock isn't too late for me to stop by? I have a few errands to run after I'm through here."

"Six is just fine, Miss Rose."

"It's Lily."

"Yes, of course," Gold responded with a faint smile. He nodded and touched Morgan by the elbow, signaling to move on. Once they were out of the room, Gold shut the door and asked if that was the last of her classes.

"One more," Morgan mouthed as she held up her index finger. She turned to lead the way and ended up bumping smack into Florence who had been late to class. They stared at each other in silence once it registered who the other one was. Florence immediately pulled Morgan into a hug.

"Ruby told me what happened," he explained. Morgan tried to swallow back the tears but she found herself too tired to keep it up. Mr. Gold walked a respectful distance away when he saw the beginnings of Morgan's sobs.

Florence stroked Morgan's hair and let her cry on his shoulder. Her tears fell on his yellow sweatshirt, creating dark spots against the fabric. Once Morgan gained control of her tears, she and Florence signed to one another for a good few minutes until the bell for next class rang.

"Morgan," Gold called. "We need to be moving along."

"How are you holding up with him?" Florence signed, not daring to whisper in case Gold heard him or could read lips.

"So far… it's too soon to tell," Morgan responded.

"Morgan," Gold called again.

Florence hugged his friend and watched her leave with Mr. Gold. "What a nightmare," he whispered.

…

They could hear the choir singing the moment they entered the music hall. The choir room was located at the very end. Morgan could make out what song the choir was singing.

"_**Seasons of love  
>Seasons of love!"<strong>_

Morgan opened the door and Gold followed behind. Mr. Crabtree was at the piano with his back to them, occasionally giving a directive gesture while still playing the keys. All eyes, but Mr. Crabtree, turned to see who walked through the door and the atmosphere immediately changed. The singing began to dwindle until it came to a complete stop and the only noise to be heard was the piano and Mr. Gold's cane tapping on the floor.

Mr. Crabtree's face screwed up in confusion as to why his choir had stopped singing. "What is da problem?" he asked the students, oblivious to the stares being directed behind him.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your practice, sir. But I'm afraid Morgan needs to know her assignments."

Mr. Crabtree turned and lifted his eyebrows once he recognized Mr. Gold. "And… uh… why is dat?" he asked.

Mr. Gold went over the same explanation he'd given all the teachers. Murmurs erupted the moment he mention Morgan now lived with him. Morgan winced. The man could have had the decency to speak to her teachers in private instead of humiliating her in front of all the students she had classes with. And the worst student of all was smiling maliciously at her from her seat in the front row. Vanessa's violet eyes seemed to be laughing at Morgan.

Morgan looked away, training her eyes on the ground, tuning out every sound. She nearly jumped when Mr. Gold touched her elbow.

"Morgan?"

She looked to see he had nudged her elbow with a music folder and was waiting for her to take it. Morgan quickly took it, clutching it to her chest and swiftly left the room; leaving the searing stares of the students behind.

**(I'm sorry it ends so awkwardly and that once again there was no fairytale part in it. Story Brooke is just coming to me easier. I hope this wasn't too big of a disappointment. Also, as you've noticed by now, I use a lot of music/songs in this story due to Ariel's life revolving so much around music. So I'm asking you, Dear Readers, whether or not you have any song suggestions for me to listen to or use for this story? Please let me know what you think and you can either leave me a suggestion in a review or a private message. I love you all so much! *blows a kiss* Until next time!)**


End file.
